ID Help - What Do I Have Here? (E120/W573/V61 Family...)

[Bosox Blair]

Hi Guys,

Purchased this card from Mark Macrae in the last year at a show. At the time we had a brief discussion about what the card was. He mentioned that there were blank-back E120s that were sometimes mistaken for W573. Anyhow, I don't think he ever positively concluded what the card was. He said it came from an old-time collection and the original owner put pencil initials on the reverse.

The card does not look like other E120s because the card stock is so white. As you can see, it is printed in all brown ink/sepia. I think that rules out W573, which should be true black and white. I also considered that it might me a blank-back Neilson's; however, it is not a Type 2 b/c it has the wrong card stock. Type 1 Neilson's were numbered, and my card is not numbered.

Perhaps it is a proof of some kind?

Here are the front/back scans - any thoughts appreciated:

[Mark]

I, too, have several of these sepia colored. They depict AL players and do not appear to be skinned. When I showed them around the national a couple of years ago, no one, including Mark McRae, knew what they were.

[oaks1912]

Blair... Technically without the American Caramel advertising & checklist on the back, this gets thrown into the W-573 classification. That being said, most of what is classified as W-573 are black & white, rather than having the sepia overlay . To further shed light, this specific card came from the "R.E. Jacobs" collection which contained a few thousand late teens-early twenties cards, including Zeenuts, E-120, E-121, Henry Johnsons and others. Most were initialed on the reverse in pencil and have circulated in the hobby since the 80's. I wouldn't classify the card as a proof, or pre production, but more likely a card that was intended to be an American Caramel that did not get the printing on the back side.

[Bosox Blair]

Thanks to both Marks for the replies!

I wonder if this was a strip card, or factory cut? It has less top/bottom border than the E120s I've seen.

Maybe these sepia ones should be W-573-2?

[Mark]

Mine do not appear to have been hand cut.

[Bosox Blair]

Originally Posted by Mark

Mine do not appear to have been hand cut.

Hi Mark,

So are the T/B borders of yours wider that the one I've posted?

[brianp-beme]

I have 19 of these sepia/green tint (eight are green tinted NL players) blank back W573-ish cards. Besides the handful that are trimmed to a mere nubbin of their original selves, my cards seem to have uniform width, but have either torn or cut tops and bottoms, as if they had been issued in vertical strips. Many of these have either an extra large top or bottom border. I lean toward them being a W573 'tinted' variation because of this.

There is even another W573 variation out there not discussed in the guidebooks, which is black and white and is on carboard instead of thin paper like the normal W573's and the ones mentioned above. I believe these may be machine cut, as the several I have seem to be pretty uniform in size (which is slightly larger than the typical E121).

Brian

[Bosox Blair]

Originally Posted by brianp-beme

I have 19 of these sepia/green tint (eight are green tinted NL players) blank back W573-ish cards. Besides the handful that are trimmed to a mere nubbin of their original selves, my cards seem to have uniform width, but have either torn or cut tops and bottoms, as if they had been issued in vertical strips. Many of these have either an extra large top or bottom border. I lean toward them being a W573 'tinted' variation because of this.

There is even another W573 variation out there not discussed in the guidebooks, which is black and white and is on carboard instead of thin paper like the normal W573's and the ones mentioned above. I believe these may be machine cut, as the several I have seem to be pretty uniform in size (which is slightly larger than the typical E121).

Brian

Hi Brian,

Thanks very much for this info!!!

[paul]

Does the standard E120 of Harris say "Infield and O.F. Boston Americans"? That looks unusual to me for an E120.

[Bosox Blair]

Originally Posted by paul

Does the standard E120 of Harris say "Infield and O.F. Boston Americans"? That looks unusual to me for an E120.

Hi Paul,

Though it looks unusual, I believe the E120 does say the same thing.

Cheers,
Blair