old judge question

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Posted By: bigfish

Wondering if there is anyway to tell the difference between pl and nl in dealing with the old judge set? I see in the SCD pl and nl next to players name. Can you look at the card and tell the difference? Any help would be appreciated
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Posted By: Richard Masson

Typically, with the 1890 cards (the only year it applies),
a "PL" or "NL" are added by hand on either the photo or in the caption. Most (maybe all?) 1890 cards are poses re-issued from prior years, so if there is neither a PL or NL on the card, it is probably not from 1890. Jay, Joe or Trevor can correct this response at their leisure.

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Posted By: Zach Rice

According to Lipsets at the time of his book all of the 1890 series N172s pictures were taken from the 1889 series. I do not know if any have been found since then to prove this wrong but would assume all of the 1890 series are borrowed photos from the 1889 series. A total of eight teams are pictured in the 1890 portion of the set, four being from the National League and four being from the Players League. So when a card is labeled as PL or NL thats what it means, it's from 1890 and is marked with NL or PL either in the background or by the name or it is not marked but is still an 1890 card.

Richard, just because PL is not on the card does not mean it is not from the 1890 series. I have seen Comiskey labeled as being from the 1890 series and being a Players League card but did not have PL written on it anywhere. The year can easily be determined correctly as an 1890 series though because Comiskey is shown playing for Chicago, and that was the only season Comiskey played for Chicago and Chicago was one of the four teams in the Players League pictured in the N172 set. So my question is, can anyone explain why some have the PL written on them while others do no but are obviously PL cards ?