W555 Date of Issue (a hypothesis)

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Posted By: Eric Eichelkraut (goudeyhunter)

I did the same homework you did a couple of days ago, and came up with similar results.
This set has the two following possibilities:

1. The set was issued during multiple years, possibly beginning in 1907. Because certain players did not appear in the majors until 1909 however (Austin, Ford, and Meyers), the cards would have had to have been distributed in 1909 or later as well. In a timeframe infamous for releasing sets over a multi-year length, this set possibly ranges from 1907-1909 or 1910. I would give this theory a low probability of having occured.

2. The more likely date of issue here is mid to late 1909, and possibly early 1910. As two players in this set only appeared until 1909 (Durham and Pastorius) and three players began their careers the same year (Austin, Ford, Meyers), this seems to be a popular choice. The popularity of baseball card distribution amongst products in 1909 also supports this date, and not the multi-year distribution theory, for which hardly any baseball cards of this size were produced in 1907 or 1908. I'd put a vey high probability that this set was produced in late 1909, possibly early 1910.