I know there are a couple of threads about this card, but I wanted to point out that the card is currently at the Huggins & Scott booth at the CSA show in Chantilly, VA this weekend. I went to the show this afternoon and finally got to see the card in person.
I was excited to finally see the card myself after so much hype and discussion. I was at the National, but didn't have time to track it down. Previously, I was on the skeptical side, leaning towards it being doctored, fake or a reprint back with a legit front, and my comments indicated as such. Now that I've seen the card in person, my opinion has changed.
Perhaps it was the lighting of the building, but to me, the 'blue' back didn't seem all that blue. I will admit, I didn't have a black Old Mill next to it to compare, but it was tough to see blue (and for the record, I'm not color blind
). I could see a bluish tint to it when held at an angle, especially along the top horizontal line, so there's definitely a little non-black color, but it wasn't overwhelmingly blue looking to me. It wasn't as if you're looking at a Piedmont or Polar Bear back - not even close.
So my opinion now is as follows. I think the card is a real t206, not a doctored card or half reprint/half real hybrid. I could be wrong and it could be a fantastic looking fake, but I truly don't feel that's the case.
With that said, I do not think the blue tint is a result of a printer forgetting to add a color to the ink. Nor do I think the tint is a result of Polar Bear or Piedmont ink being left on the press for the printing of this card. If we begin to see several others surface, then there's reason to believe it could have been an ink issue on the press or an element in the paper that caused the ink to react differently over time. We'll never know for sure...
My belief is that the blue tint is probably a result of the card being exposed to sunlight or some other reacting agent (NOT saying it was purposely chemically changed). Regardless, it was nice to see it in person and I encourage anyone going to the Chantilly show to check it out.