I certainly do not put a premium on these...in fact, most are in such awful shape they can be had cheaply. That being said, I still do not think it is a faded or flaked gold border...here is the Pelty enlarged and you can see the green ink pass where there should be gold over the base paths. What looks like faded gold along the borders is actually the cardboard peeking through the faded and chipped green coloring.