THE A-Z OF SPORTING COLLECTIBLES By Carl Wilkes Sportsbookofthemonth.com price: £21.99, saving £8.01 on rrp

MOST of us, if asked to list the top three performing investments made since 1990, would probably have property heading the list, closely followed by shares in the FTSE 100, with gold a close third.

In fact, according to author and collector Carl Wilkes, the correct answer is rare sports cards.

As proof, Wilkes cites the example of a football card bought in 1999 for £52 which sold last year for almost £55,000.

If that sounds impressive, consider the US baseball card one collector picked up for $3,000 in 1987 and recently sold for $3 million.

“The very same cards cost less than a penny each to buy when they were new,” adds Wilkes, an invitation to dive into this beautifully-produced and illustrated A-Z of Sporting Collectibles.

Such is the author’s impressive subject knowledge that cards featuring stars and teams from a range of different sports – everything from archery to swimming, cricket to motor racing – are included in this gem of a book.

Nor does Wilkes concern himself solely with each card’s monetary value; he explains who published them and leavens the text with wonderful anecdotes relating to players, teams, or cigarette companies which most likely included the cards with their products.

Sports cards were originally produced in Britain almost 150 years ago; by 1880 they were being published by companies such as Williams of Aston, printers of match day tickets.

Initially, the cards were given away as promotional gifts with products such as chocolate, comics, soap, or by milliners and boot makers. Later, they were printed on thicker paper to stiffen the paper packets in which cigarettes were sold as they prevented the cigarettes from breaking.

Although Panini is credited with inventing packets of football cards, Wilkes points out that in fact, packets of such cards were first produced in Bradford in 1884.

In addition to being a fascinating guide through sporting history, the A-Z of Sporting Collectibles also acts as an informative introduction to a collecting hobby; Wilkes offers pointers about where and what to buy and, with the aid of his Soccer Cards Rarity Scale, provides details of current card values.

It’s a hobby that could prove very lucrative indeed, particularly for those prepared to focus their collecting on sports other than football, baseball and American football.