Everyone,
Thanks for the compliments on this new discovery for Old Put E98s. I won it off the bay a few weeks ago. Pete C. was bidding against me and was kind enough to let it go and not bid me up too high. (Thanks Pete!, I really didn't know who I was bidding against until I talked with him a few days later) I told Pete on the phone that I wasn't 100% sure if it was even real and that I wouldn't know until it was in my hands. I'm not much of a gambler, but I decided to take a chance. As Leon mentioned, it is hard to be sure if something is real until you get it in your hands. Once I touched it, and put it up to other E98s and the four other Old Put Backs I own, I'm convinced it's the real deal. As Rob mentioned, it's definately an Orange, not a faded or discolored red. The stamp matches exactly with other authentic ones - color- font size (Though I don't have a loupe to look at it with.)
I think I am just going to leave it laminated. There are no bubbles or weak spots of the laminate and I'm definately not that big of a gambler! I just hope that SGC will grade it. Not that I need a TPG to be the above everyone else judge on authenticity, I think most of us can judge the authenticity of raw cards on our own, it's just that my entire Master Set is in SGC holders and I would like this one to go with them.
Like others have mentioned, the most exciting thing about our hobby is when new things come up! I even have a type that Leon- The King of Types- doesn't have!
Tim