Interesting topic that I have never really thought about before.
This soaking thing is really something I've never really thought about before. I never thought about doing it to a card that I have owned because if I tried , I would screw something up and ruin my card! When buying, I never really have thought about a card if it was soaked or not. I have thought about other types of alterations when buying such as trimming, ironing out creases, etc., but soaking would be way down on my worry list of alterations; like I said I never really thought about it before until this thread. That being said, I guess I would still consider it an alteration...BUT IF I FOUND OUT ONE OF MY CARDS WAS SOAKED, I WOULDN'T CONSIDER IT ANY BIG DEAL. REALLY I DON"T CARE MUCH. I just wouldn't do it that's all.
Let me explain why I think soaking is altering. I look at cards as historical objects. For example, many of you know I love E98s. When I get an E98 that is 100 years old, I consider anything that might be on it- candy stains, writing (For example, someone put l.f., say in period ink, on the back of a card to signify the player's position), old tape, glue, scrapbook residue, etc.- to be just part of the history of that card. To me, these so called "alterations" to the origional card happened before cards were thought to be "collector's items". Anything done to remove these things from the card's history to me is alteration. But again, removing something as insignificant as scrapbook residue is really no big deal to me. I don't have a problem with this type of alteration, though to me its still alteration. I do have a problem with trimming, rebacking, recoloring, etc. because you are trying to put something back- sharp corners, color, backing, etc.- that was lost throughout the years.
By the way, really neat information by sb1 on the clay content of paper. I never knew anything about that sort of stuff. I just know that E98s can flake something awful!
Tim Kindler
E98 Guy
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