first-string vs gilt-edged

first-string

adj
  • describing the members of a sports team who play regularly at the start of a match (rather than being substituted on) 

gilt-edged

adj
  • Of the highest quality. 

  • Having gilded edges. 

  • Issued by the Bank of England. 

How often have the words first-string and gilt-edged occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )