Back in the '60's, there were only a handful of them in the hobby (less than 10), according to period publications. Those that followed closely could keep a reasonably good count as new examples were discovered. Of course some may not have been big public announcements, but I imagine the Rob Lifsons, Bill Mastros, and the elder hobby statesmen that they were close with had pretty good knowledge and a reasonably accurate running tally. It is just like it is reliable hobby knowledge that the total number of Cobb backs in the hobby has gone from 6 to 14 in the last fifteen years, thanks primarily to a major find of 5 in 1997.
JimB
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