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BobWith regard to the type of stock the card is printed on, it is similar to the E97 black and white proofs, thinner and lighter than regular card stock. It is, like the Chance and Davis, and much different than the stock used for those infamous notebook covers which display E96 cards. From what I have seen of those, they are connected by ornate artwork, as Scott indicated. This card has none of that and has definite borders of white all the way around. I am not sure what the thin red line is on the very edge of the right border which runs vertically. It could be the next card on the proof sheet, but that is mere speculation.
As far as why I did not submit it to PSA, SGC or even Beckett, I guess there are two reasons:
1) I have never been very big on grading card companies, as most of my collector friends can attest. I have in the past and will in the future bid on graded cards if the card inside is desirable, but I have always felt that there is just too much subjectivity in the grading of cards submitted, not only in the grades themselves but in the identity of the submitter. I have had several of the "big boys" in the collecting community tell me that I need to let them submit cards for grading rather than do it myself, when I have consigned cards to auction houses, because the cards can get better grades. This has happened more than once and regardless of whether this is true or not, it certainly reinforced my feelings about the grading companies in general.
2) I could have gone ahead and simply had the card graded to establish "authenticity" as an E96 proof and have been done with it, but it isn't an E96 proof.
This is a unique proof card, in my opinion and those of others who have seen it. I will never part with the Chance which, by the way, is displayed on Pete's tremendous caramel card webpages, by far the most informative and useful tool for caramel card collectors. Pete displays it without any speculation one way or the other as to what it is or might be.
As far as the provenance of the card, your guess is as good as mine. I bought the card as an "E96 proof" the same time I bought several E97 proofs which are the b&w cards universally accepted as proofs from that set. I guess it is possible that when the proof was made, the printer inadvertently added the wrong caption and that is why is was discarded. But would the printer have made the same mistakes on the Davis and Chance cards? Very, very unilkely. I'll stand by my original theory, that because of the team designations this was intended for a set never released. Maybe more proofs will appear from this set, who knows? To me it is an interesting puzzle which probably will never have an answer. I am not aware of amy other caramel card proofs floating around the hobby so it is tough to make a comparison. If it doesn't sell, fine, I'll put it back in the safe next to the Chance. I might even make an overture to acquire the Davis at some point and own all three if the owner is willing to part with it.