Blue Old Mill T206 Walsh at Chantilly Show - My Opinion Has Changed

[t206blogcom]

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.

[benchod]

So is Huggins and Scott going to be auctioning it?
I thought a member here was putting together a private deal for it?

[t206blogcom]

Yes, it'll be in the December auction. I think they said the starting bid will be around $15k.

[g_vezina_c55]

Originally Posted by t206blogcom

Yes, it'll be in the December auction. I think they said the starting bid will be around $15k.

Impatient to see the result.

[prewarsports]

A $200-$300 card being worth 100X the value because the black ink may have faded into a bluish color on the back is (in my opinion) the absolute dumbest thing I have seen in 25 years of prewar card collecting.

[barrysloate]

Originally Posted by prewarsports

A $200-$300 card being worth 100X the value because the black ink may have faded into a bluish color on the back is (in my opinion) the absolute dumbest thing I have seen in 25 years of prewar card collecting.

+10!

[E93]

The nearly universal opinion of many T206 experts and veteran hobbyists who saw the card in person at the National was that it was real, unaltered, and blue (not faded black). To my knowledge Jason was the first person who has actually seen the card in person to suggest otherwise and he mentioned that lighting may have been the cause. One can see from the photos that it is a different color than the black Old Mills. He did not question the authenticity or unaltered status of the card.
JimB

[iwantitiwinit]

With

Originally Posted by barrysloate

+10!

[Matthew H]

Originally Posted by prewarsports

A $200-$300 card being worth 100X the value because the black ink may have faded into a bluish color on the back is (in my opinion) the absolute dumbest thing I have seen in 25 years of prewar card collecting.

Post of the day.

[tbob]

Originally Posted by prewarsports

A $200-$300 card being worth 100X the value because the black ink may have faded into a bluish color on the back is (in my opinion) the absolute dumbest thing I have seen in 25 years of prewar card collecting.

Thank you!
+1

[wonkaticket]

Originally Posted by t206blogcom

Yes, it'll be in the December auction. I think they said the starting bid will be around $15k.

I wish the seller the best and I hope he gets what he’s looking for. I will say that I’m a bit surprised how much the card has fallen off. I think the hype surrounding and the timing was the perfect storm for the seller to maximize.

Actually I was one of the fools that you guys speak of. I know it has been hinted a few times that somebody made a solid offer of 30-35k on the card at the national. In fact I was the person who offered Dave that for the card. In a way I’m glad he didn’t take it because I do think a bit of national fever had me caught up and valuing the card about twice what I would pay today. Even 15k I think is a bit generous given that there are no other known examples. Which in the end hurts this card IMO.

As for the card itself it looked blue to me. There were some odd things going on via the front but nothing major. Part of the deal was Dave to except my offer was that I got to crack the card in the presence of SGC and look it over raw myself. Had that happened I could say 100% yay or nay for what that’s worth. However in the holder it looked ok for me to gamble.

Also I’m not sure who is really left out there to buy on this type of anomaly. I know Dave ran this up the ladders of the usual suspects of which all passed. I know I made a solid offer and now it’s in Huggins & Scott. Hopefully Huggins can get new bidders to the table and get the card across the finish line of what Dave is looking for.

For transparency I will not be bidding either I will wait till a second example pops up.

Cheers,

John

[mrvster]

I think you made a great decision in all due respect to seller

[freakhappy]

Originally Posted by mrvster

I think you made a great decision in all due respect to seller

Kinda confused...what great decision are you talking about?

[atx840]

To pass on it during the moment of the initial hype....and also until a second example shows up.

The brown OMs are $$$ because there are a handful and all from the same subset, confirming the variation to be a change of ink at the factory. There are also examples of double strike black & brown on the same card, as well as Leon's Young ghost multi strike.

I think at this point it was a smart move John.