T205 oddity (Luckey 7)

[nebboy]

When I saw this T205 Waltse on EBay it clearly showed a 7 on the bottom gold/green boarder under the letter (Y) in New York. I waited to get in hand so I could see if was indeed was a original printed anomaly or something that occurred later. The (7) is the same font and point size of the text on the back of the card. This card back is a Polar Bear version. I did look at a few other Waltse/Polar Bear combos but was unable as yet to find another example. I believe the (7) is only able to bee seen because the degree of fading. Love to hear your feedback this oddity or help in locating further examples if any.

I did a little color correcting and tinting/lightening and contrasting to better show the area in question.

[nebboy]

B&w

[oldeboo]

Just my opinion, but I think it's a combo of a couple of things happening. I believe it's mostly Polar Bear tobacco staining combined with a little bit of wear. Take a close look at the "7" with a loupe and I would guess you'll see the top of the "7" extending down to the border rather clearly. That's what I'm seeing with the pictures provided.

Still kind of neat though. It's a little like those Cheetos that people sell online that are shaped like Abe Lincoln, dogs, etc.

[abothebear]

I think it is the “T” from “THE” and lower and to the right you can see part of “NATIONALS.” Although the the proper text on the card is the same color and the shifted print looks to have the T different than the nationals.

Someone with skillz could probably cut the text and shift it over the “7” to see if it matches up.

[steve B]

To me it looks like a 7 in a dark rectangle.

The puzzle would be why it might be there at all. I wonder id I can spot anything similar on any of mine.

[abothebear]

I did some closer looking and tried my own skillz. Seems to me that they are indeed versions of the text above. Oddly, they are independent of each other. The "THE" and "NATIONALS" don't collectively match up to their counterparts (and the "THE" is a different color).

[nebboy]

My thoughts was the (7) on front ( if that's what it truly is) looks like the 7 from the back but reversed. Photos taken with 10x loop

[nebboy]

Back

[abothebear]

in the loupe photo the T in THE doesn't look like 7 the way it does in the first photo. But I still lean toward it being the THE given that I can also see the H and the E in their spots. If true, it is very strange, and I can't explain how or why it would be there, seemingly in relief, and ...ONALS also be there but off-set from the THE. Also, the ...ONALS looks slightly skewed in a couple of ways that I can't figure out how it would even happen with the printing process.
Could the print be a reverse on the back of the foil sheet they used to apply the gold, appearing correctly then as the foil wore off (I don't know how they did the foil process, so that may be a dumb idea)?

[Sixtofan]

I don’t t have any idea what it is but it’s pretty cool regardless. Also, great job spotting it!

[Papa Stephano]

That's a very interesting find, I love those find of things! Makes me want to look closer at cards now!