Posted By:
Joe D.Ted, believe me - I trust your knowledge on the set...
I was just checking if we were sure the chase came in that SC 460/30 back.
If (or since) it does, because the Johnson did not, that would mean the Chase was on more than one form (i.e. printed with more than one grouping of cards).
Rob, for sure I would suggest that as a matter of procedure, the backs were printed first. That is not to say that in the beginning the fronts weren't printed first... or that even as the process matured over the years - that it was never the case that completely blank stock was used and fronts were printed first.
Of course it is possible the fronts were printed first from time to time. If a Piedmont, Sweet Cap, and Sovereign order came in - and the printing company only had piedmont and sweet cap stock on hand (no Sovereign), they could very well have printed on the piedmont stock, followed by sweet cap stock, followed by blank stock (all just paper loading not separate print runs). Then at a later time the printer could have come back and printed Sovereign... and then continued to print more sovereign backed to keep up their inventory.