e97 B&W questions

[quinnsryche]

I have some questions if someone has some answers. What exactly are the e97 black and white cards? I have seen them referred to as "proofs" by some and just b&w by others. Are they unissued, non-colored variations, are the pictures actual photos or artwork of photos? What do vg examples of commons sell for? Are they readily available or scarce, rare? Sorry for all the questions but I can't find any in depth info about them on the net.
Thanks in advance!

[sb1]

1stly they are not proofs, they were obviously issued and circulated and found in old time collections. While not know for sure, the B & W ones were probably issued by some other party than C.A. Briggs and purchased from the same lithographer, they were just on a budget and went B & W and no printed back, just a hunch of mine.

The pictures are identical lithographs of the full color E97's. The cards are on much thinner stock.

They are not rare, perhaps scarce is appropriate. They used to command 4 figures for even g/vg examples but can now be found in the mid 3 figure range for that grade or nicer(however g/vg is about the best you will find). We have auctioned a couple in the last year.

Scott

[Jacklitsch]

[fkw]

I agree with Scott. A related issue, not a proof.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by fkw

I agree with Scott. A related issue, not a proof.

Agreed. Certainly not proofs and they remind me of Colgan's "Proofs"...as those aren't proofs either.

[Abravefan11]

I ran across a couple of these in a card shop today. The owner had them mixed in a box, unlabeled, with an assortment of other cards.

Are the prices for these dropping as more people believe them to not be proofs?

The cards I saw were a Murray (Good) and Mullin (Poor, slight tear on border and pencil writing on reverse.)

Ballparks on their value?