Offered is an 1887 N28 Allen & Ginter Mike "King" Kelly graded PSA GD 2 (PSA cert. #175227123). The N28 "World's Champions" series is one of the earliest and most celebrated tobacco issues, and Kelly's card is among its most important baseball subjects.

Produced in Richmond, Virginia, the set featured 50 subjects drawn from across the world of sport, including baseball players, boxers, oarsmen, wrestlers, billiard players and sharpshooters. The reverse of this card displays the full "World's Champions" checklist, which includes legendary names such as Cap Anson, John Montgomery Ward, Charles Comiskey, John L. Sullivan, Buffalo Bill Cody and Annie Oakley. Only ten baseball players appear in the set, and the cards are known for their richly detailed lithographic portraits.

Kelly is pictured in his Boston uniform with its lace-up collar and bold red "BOSTON" lettering, a reference to his headline-making sale from Chicago to Boston for a then-record $10,000 before the 1887 season. Baseball's first true matinee idol, Kelly was such a sensation on the basepaths that he inspired the popular song "Slide, Kelly, Slide." He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1945.

This example shows the handling and age-related toning typical of a 19th-century tobacco card, while the portrait remains clear, colorful and well preserved. The color lithography of Kelly's face and the red Boston lettering remain strong, giving the card excellent eye appeal for the grade. This is a significant 19th-century card of one of baseball's earliest superstars.