[sreader3]

I generally agree with Jim's list, except--like Lee--I don't think Jim has given Piedmont 42 its due.

In my experience, Piedmont 42 is at least as tough as Carolina Brights--considerably tougher than Brown Hindu, Sovereign 460, Cycle 460, etc.

A FINAL NOTE: One consideration often overlooked in these "backs" discussions is that certain backs were printed with more subjects than other backs. For example, Brown Hindu was printed with more than 100 different subjects whereas Sovereign 460 was printed with only a few dozen different subjects. Thus, putting aside for the moment the reported difficulty of finding Sovereign 460 with the six superprints, the "scarcity" of Sovereign 460 is at least partly attributable to the fact that it simply wasn't printed with very many subjects.

Consider the following hypothetical.

Assumption 1: Back X was printed in equal numbers with 50 subjects.
Assumption 2: Back Y was printed in equal numbers with 100 subjects.
Assumption 3: Back X and Back Y were printed in equal numbers.
Conclusion: It will be roughly twice has hard to find A PARTICULAR SUBJECT with Back Y as it will be to find A PARTICULAR SUBJECT with Back X.