1921 W-unc self developing cards

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Posted By: davidcycleback

Leon, I'm not familiar with the issue or how the year was picked. But the rarity itself of the cards is significant. Does't appear someone hasn't been running off lots of reprints to stick on eBay. One of the issues with the Ray O Prints photo cards is that there were lots of complete sets in high grade on the market.

The back of the photo paper appears off white/toned, which is cosistent with being older. If the photo paper is thin that's also consistent with old age. Years later paper was typically thicker.

The ultimate test with early 20th cetury photo cards is if they have silvering. Though it does not appear on all old photo cards (thus, the lack of it is not proof a card is fake), if you turn the card at an angle to a lamp or light and a silveriness appears in the image (sometimes has a 'mirror' effect), that's proof it's old. Silvering is an aging process, meaning it appears only on cards that are many years old. It's possible with real little photos the silvering might not appear.

Looking at your above image, I don't see a problem with your cards. Many times, no signs that something is bad is a sign that something is good.