[ls7plus]

First thing to do is check out the dot pattern of the ink on the Ruth. Reprints/counterfeits are usually made via taking a picture of a real card and producing a printing plate from that. Doing so, however, leaves a random dot pattern. I personally examined a supposed example of the 1914 Baltimore News Ruth at the 2009 National in Cleveland which was created in that manner. The dealer claimed it was simply a different card from the regular issue to explain why it had no schedule on its back, but the random dot pattern I observed under magnification revealed it to be a counterfeit. A real M101 Ruth was printed with the halftone printing methods employed at the time, and will show a regular, linear dot pattern under magnification. I would suggest a 16X loupe.

You can also check the card stock against other M101 4 and 5's you may own. Obviously, if it is a regular issue Ruth, the stock will be the same (although I believe that Felix Mendelsohn did use some lighter versus darker stock in producing these issues).

Also, a black light can establish that it is a reprint, but not that it is not, as it wasn't until the mid-forties or so that brighteners were added to paper. These will fluoresce under a black light, so if it does fluoresce, you know it was in fact produced in the forties or after. If it doesn't, however, that does not establish that it is not a reprint/counterfeit, since not all paper made from the mid '40's on used such brighteners, and the possibility exists that it was printed using older stock.

Finally, the front of your card does, at least from the scan, appear as if attempts were made to artificially age it, which of course is a cause for concern.

Good luck on it,

Larry