At first glance, the N9 Flags of all Nations set includes a bewildering array of front and back variations and exceptions. However, simplification arises from the fact that many of the variations are correlated. In fact, there are only 6 basic types of cards in the set. There are 4 kinds of backs and 2 of these 4 backs have a pair of possible fronts. Other differences in the cards are determined entirely by the 6 basic types.

The table below summarizes the situation. The rows in the table define the 6 types and the 3^rd through 8^th columns describe how some of the well-known design variations are associated with each of the 6 basic types. An explanation of the rows and columns follows the table.

........Back.........	.......Front.......	Common Fancies	V.B. Belgium	Pontifical States	G.B Yellow Sun	Corea	Roumania
Sm Curved Title	Ginter
	Ginter’s					X
Lg Curved Title		X				X	X
Right Bower		X
Straight Title	No VA Brights	X		X
	VA Brights	X	X	X	X

Starting with the rows, there are four basic types of backs:

· Small Curved Title – This refers to a curved “FLAGS OF ALL NATIONS” title line. The font is not really that small, but it is the smaller of the two curved title varieties. The easiest way determine the height is by measuring one of the L’s in “ALL.” In this case, it is about 3 mm tall.

· Large Curved Title – Similar to the Small Curved Title, but with the L in “ALL” measuring about 4 mm tall. In these cards, the A’s most of the cards are in a fancier font than is the case with Small Curved A’s. They have a tail flying off to the left of the crossbar. Roumania is an exception. It has a 4 mm L, but no tail on the A’s.

· Right Bower – These also have curved titles, but instead of saying “One packed in each box of ten cigarettes,” these say “One packed in each box of Right Bower cigarettes.” Most of these cards have the small curved title, but Germany, Ireland, and the United Sates have the large curved title. The World Tobacco Index postulates 2 Right Bower issues (small and large font). However, I have never observed a case where a single subject has both a small font and large font Right Bower. I believe there is only a single Right Bower back for each subject. If anyone can contradict this, please notify the webmaster or post on the Net 54 Non-Sports Cards Chat Board.

· Straight Title – These backs are easily discriminated from the other with a straight line title in a rather plain font.

Two of these backs have more than one type of front, with differences evident in the banner at the bottom of the front. Small Curved backs can advertise “Allen & Ginter” or “Allen and Ginter’s” Cigarettes. Straight backs may or may not have a promotion of Virginia Brights cigarettes.

In fact, if you were to just concentrate on getting all of the available cards for each of those 6 basic types, you could collect an N9 master set. However, if you embarked on this endeavor, you would notice some additional difference between the cards of the various basic types.

That is what the 3^rd through 8^th columns of the table are all about.

· Austria, France, Holland, Italy and Japan have either plain design or fancier designs in various basic types. They are called the “Common Fancies” above, 1) to emphasize that these fancy variations are more common than the plain variations and 2) to differentiate them from some of the scare cards which are also sometimes called “fancy.”

· Virginia Brights (V.B.) Belgium is sometimes called “Belgium fancy,” but it is clearly different from the Common Fancies for both reasons cited above. Virginia Brights is prominent in the card design and there is no banner at the bottom.

· Pontifical States is an alternative title for a design that is also entitled Papal Standard. Like all of the items in columns 3 though 8, each of the 6 types will have one or the other title, but not both.

· G.B. Yellow Sun refers to the color of the sun in the Great Britain Royal Standard design. The more common alternative is for a gold sun.

· Corea and Roumania are cards that are notoriously short printed. In fact, they are so uncommon that tradition dictates that sets are “complete” without them. These subjects are found only in the basic types noted above. The other 48 subjects are found on all six types of backs.

In contrast, the N10 Flags of All Nations Second Series contains no documented variations.