A large number of early 1900s baseball cards were made with
the photoengraving printing process. Photoengraving is an obsolete
method that has not been used commercially for many years. This
means that if you can identify that a card is a photoengraving,
you can be assured it is old.
Photoengraving was used to make most of those early black
and white cards with photo-realistic images of the players.
Popular photoengraving issues include 1893 Just So Tobacco, 1915
Sporting News, vintage Exhibit cards, Fro Joy Babe Ruth, 1913
National Game, Fan Craze and 1923 Maple Crispette. A few photoengraving
cards, most notably the 1914 and 1915 Cracker Jacks, have black
and white pictures with one or two extra colors printed over
(tinted).
An early 1900s baseball card with a photo-realistic image
is either a photoengraving or 'real photo' (see next chapter).
Photoengraving is identified with a microscope. The photorealistic
picture of the player will be made up of black and white half
tone dots (the border, other text and designs will often be solid
ink). This dot pattern is distinctly different from modern lithographed
half tone dots. In areas, the pattern will resemble a waffle.
The ink will have a distinct dark, mechanical rim or edge.
This gives the printing an almost 3-D appearance. This rim was
caused by the pressure of the printing plate during printing.
The pressure pushed the excess ink to the edge. Some isolated
dots will often have little crosses in the middle.
This dark rim is distinct to the appearance modern printing
on trading cards and reprints. This rim appears not just with
the half-tone dots but on any border lines, designs and text
on the front of the card. If you look at Babe Ruth's name at
the bottom of a 1915 Sporting News, you will see the dark rim
around much or all of the lettering.
There are somewhat similar dark ink rims that appear on other
types of printing. This includes early chromolithography and
woodcuts.
Luckily, all of these types of 'rim' prints are vintage.
The presence of a microscopic rim is always a good sign authenticity-wise.
On many types of paper or cardstock, this rim is easily seen.
On coarser paper, like newsprint or on the typical rough back
of some cards, it is more difficult.
Photoengraving: The halftone dots have a distinct
dark rim that gives the printing an almost 3D appearance. Notice
that the isolated dots have little crosses in the middle. The
dark rim and unique dot pattern proves that this printing is
old. Compare this picture to the modern halftone pictures in
chapter 12.
The lettering on this early photoengraving has a dark rim showing
that the card is old.
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