Posted By:
EricHey Frank,
Before bidding on the card (congrats on the pickup), I checked with Bob Lemke and got his thougths. Although he mentioned that he'd never seen the issue before, he estimated in to be 1940's if it was authentic. Another collector and I were talking about the card after the auction ended, and one thing came up that struck me funny, the ripped hang hole at the top. As my area of collecting doesn't reach beyond the 1940's, I'm not familiar with the era when hanging holes became prevalent on cards. However, a friend that's more knowledgeable about later dates mentioned that he didn't think this trend started until at least the 1960's..and he too reasoned that this trait may be a giveaway to its true date of origin..a more recent design than the 1940's. My bid on the card, like yours, was a pure speculation of interest. I had no doubts when I bid on the card that there was a high percentage chance that the card was probably a recent design (maybe 1970's)..something like a TCMA or alike. One thing you may want to do, and I meant to do this before bidding, is check out the professional career span of this player..maybe that will help. However, it still doesn't declare the card as vintage. Just my thoughts.
Eric Eichelkraut