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Posted By: Frank Wakefield

On Chris' certificate, it looks like the month and date are written with one pen, then the year is written with another, bolder. It looks like where the 18 is has been cleaned or erased. I suspect a 19 was under there.

If you look at Tom's similar certificate, it has 19 printed where the clean spot and 18 are on Chris' certificate.

I think this certificate is not from the 1870s. I'd suspect it is either a souvenir, or maybe slightly more likely left over un-issued certificates from the Louisville Colonels of 1914 or so, where someone has doctored them.

That plainer certificate Tom has posted looks more of the style I'd expect in 1876. I have some RR stuff somewhere that looks similar to that plain certificate.

Have you illuminated it with black light?