T206....PIEDMONT vs EPDG cards in 350 series and 460 series

[steve B]

Originally Posted by tedzan

Pre-Script
PIEDMONT was the Flagship brand of the American Tobacco Co (ATC). American Lithographic (ALC) would start their T206 press runs with PIEDMONT cards. First
proof of this is the MAGIE error card whose back is only PIEDMONT 150. The 2nd proof of this: the Joe DOYLE N.Y. Nat'l card. ALC began printing their 350 Series
T206 cards circa late 1909. This Joe DOYLE error card was printed only with the PIEDMONT 350 back.

Some guys on this forum claim that the El Principe de Gales (EPDG) print run preceded the PIEDMONT 350 print run. Well guys consider this_if the EPDG print run
preceded the PIEDMONT 350 print run, this Joe Doyle error card would then exist only with EPDG backs. DID NOT HAPPEN !
Finally the PIEDMONT cards were printed in greater quantities than any of the other T206 brands. Approx. 53% of the total T206 population are PIEDMONT cards.

The Elite 11 subjects are originally 150 Series subjects. When ALC started printing their 350 Series cards (circa late 1909), ALC still had many pre-printed sheets
of 150 Series subjects left over in stock, so they printed PIEDMONT 350, and also the new complement of 350 series backs (EPDG, OLD MILL, SOVEREIGN 350 &
SWEET CAP 350). The Elite 11 guys in the 350 series press runs were printed only with PIEDMONT 350 & EPDG backs.
TED Z
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You actually provide proof in what you wrote above.

I can agree that these 11 subjects were printed from sheets of fronts leftover from 150 production. There wouldn't have been a lot of them compared to a regular press run.*
some subjects would have been carried over to the 350 series.

That these were printed only on EPDG and Piedmont means that they were printed first. They probably wouldn't have waited until they were well into P350 production to use up those leftover sheets. It also points pretty strongly at simultaneous production. (Obviously one would have been "first" even if only by a few hours.)

That also means the Doyle wasn't done until at least right after the leftovers, so after EPDG production began. The Doyle was most likely fixed by stoning off the incorrect part, and the partial remnants of letters point to that. That's a very quick repair, and if they found it quickly I'm not surprised it only found its way onto one back. That could have happened at any time during the 350 runs.

If Scot Readers possible production numbers are right, and I haven't found any reason to doubt them, Piedmont production would have been almost constant. Other brands almost certainly would have been produced alongside them (SC may have been nearly constant production as well. )

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Things I'm less confident in follow

*The portion used for EPDG may have been enough for one shipments worth, and probably was considering the populations. (flawed as they are, but it's all we have to go on for numbers unless one of the big surveys was broken down that finely) That the Piedmonts for these 11 are even less common seems to indicate a quantity of leftovers were set aside for EPDGs which would have been a small press run, and the remainder of the leftovers went to begin Piedmont 350 production. That could have been slightly after EPDG started, slightly before, or on the same day.

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More concrete, but less on topic.

The scratches are anything but random. Pats tile example is an interesting one. For stamps, it's called plating, where a collector will try to reassemble a plate by cataloging any known faults and differences along with where they're located on a sheet. Despite being easier - Known sheet size, and usually available blocks and less commonly a full or nearly full sheet. It often takes decades to figure out.

Steve B