Old Judge Proofs?

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Posted By: John Freeman 

Usually I just toss my SCD in the stack of newspapers as it does not feature anything that interests me. This week was different.

The front cover of the SCD features some recently discovered Old Judge proof cards. The inside has a corresponding article by Bob Lemke.

I have seen these pop up at shows in the past both as individual cards and as part of a larger display. I was always under the assumption that they were made quite a bit after the original. In my estimate, quite a bit after.

I am not an Old Judge expert, but I know quite a bit about photographs. I saw these cards displayed at the National. They do not seem to be albumen prints and the stock of the mount does not seem to be from the 19th century. Is Bob Lemke an expert on photographs? I would have thought that SCD would have done more research on them before featuring them on their front cover.

When I asked American Memorabilia about them, they seem to know very little about what they were offering.

Do any of the experts on this board wish to share their views about these cards?

Does anyone know where these cards came from? Are they originally all from the same find or auction house/dealer?

John F.