SGC kept my Vic Willis T206 gray back variation

[G1911]

Originally Posted by Mark17

So, to my previous question. Do you think my card, with the gray background except along the top in a straight line, is the missing link between regular Willis portraits with burgundy backgrounds, and the completely gray background cards I've seen? In other words, is it solid evidence the gray background cards are caused by chemicals or sun fade, rather than lack of red in the printing process?

This one is definitely not a 'natural' grey. I tend to think the vast majority of these "misprints" did not leave the factory that way. Note how many of them there are in T206 and compare with how few there are in nearly worthless T59, the other ATC T card set of the period with probably the highest non-T206 print run. I have several T cards like this where the original background color is partially there, in a spot that was clearly covered by something and didn't take sun/chemical/other damage to lose a color(s). They aren't missing links or variations, they are just damaged. A small number are probably mistakes missing a color pass, but they are few and far between. I'd wager that about 0 of the cards with a spot properly done on and edge or corner and then the color missing elsewhere are real. I still like cards like this simply because they look different, but most are unlikely to be any kind of 'genuine'.