Hi Kevin. If the card has an ad back, in most cases you know whether it was an M101-5 or M101-4 as many ad backs were issued only in one of the two series. Also, on blank backs or ad backs that were issued in both series, you can look at the paper type. The cards that develop browning,most noticeable on the backs, are only M101-5s. For the most part, but not always, a white back will be an M101-4. For me to call a card a rookie of Ruth I would want proof the card was an M101-5. In a case when I wasn't sure I would be conservative and say it wasn't.
Hi Joe-There are no hard and fast rules. This is not accounting. I think when you can definitively say one issue came later, regardless of whether it is the same year or not, it cannot be a rookie. This is my opinion; you are certainly welcome to a different opinion. I can understand why dealers (not you now) would push for as wide a definition as possible, but I don't have to agree with them.
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