seeking info on S81 silks

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Posted By: Mark

I have a few questions about S81 silks and hope someone can help me. Both Lipset and the Standard Catalog claim the proper size for an S81 silk is 7 inches by 9 inches. However, in the recent Mastro auction, they sold an S81 Mathewson, described at near mint to mint, which they claim measures 6.5 by 8.5. There is no mention of any trimming. So, what is the correct size for an S81 silk? I have a Matty that measures somewhere in between - 6 and 7/8 by 8 and 3/4. Do they legitimately vary in size? Also, while I'm at it, does anyone have any idea as to the population of these silks? I know that Matty is the most common. How many Matty's were found in the so-called "pad" several years ago? Does anyone know? How many of each of the others are known to exist? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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Posted By: Harry

And it measures about 6-3/4 by 8-3/4. I believe that there was a pad of about 100 Mattys found.

I believe that all S81's have a sort of a border to them - about 1/8" or so. The border is slightly darker than the rest of the silk and is probably a result of the company applying some sort of liquid that kept the edges from fraying.

It looks as though Mastro's Matty has this border and is OK. If someone trimmed it down, the border would not be there anymore.