53 Parkies

Putty

For the folks here who collect or know about this set, I was hoping you could clarify something for me.
I have noticed in researching this set a few things lately on Ebay,

- many of these cards, PSA graded 6's or 7's, great looking cards have different coloring in the borders
- some are snow white and much more visibly attractive to me, yet some have a duller or toned color to the edges, however they have the same grades
- the snow white borders indeed sell for more from what I have seen

Now does anyone know if this is due to toning or aging of the cards? Or were they issued from say a different stock of paper/cardboard? Or is it both?

Howitallbegan

A well known dealer(who has king as part of his ebay name) told me once that the only way you get snow white borders on 53's if they are bleached.

The white borders in my opinion look much better but i believe the natural stock is more toned

Putty

I heard about bleaching somewhere else as well. That would really depress me. Does that not fall into the catagorie of altering a card? I mean there would have to be some long term affects to the card right? I also wonder if the grading companies have a way of determining if the card has been bleached, there seem to be so many PSA 8's with snow white borders, it would seem a shame if any of them had been bleached.

goodriddance189

putty, ask Steve Yawitz (yawie99) about the '53 set. he should be able to answer any questions you may have about the set

yawie99

I'd say the great majority of '53 Parkies show at least some toning. (KingKellogg is the board's resident expert on the issue, Putty.) Those that show little or no toning definitely go for more because they're so attractive. But even well-toned cards can land at least 8's.

I don't know about the bleaching theory. I've bought white-bordered '53s from multiple sources - including the aforementioned royal dealer - and kinda doubt there's such widespread restoration of the cards. But I also don't really know if there are any telltale signs of such an alteration.

Putty

Yawie, thankx for the link. The King certainly earned his title with that bit of knowledge, now I can appreciate the snow white borders of these cards even more. (and pay more for them of course)

zsz70

Don't buy the bleaching theory for every parkie card in existence.
Many of the other years have retained their white tones over the years.
Look at the 1962-63 parkie vending case find in the early 90's.
They are in PSA 8 and 9 (and 10) holders today with snow white borders.
The "Kings" comments were not 100% correct in my opinion.

marc

Howitallbegan

The Kings comments only referred to 53-54.