WORLD'S COLUMBIAN MOVABLE SIDEWALK TICKET--YELLOW BUT WELL FADED

This is yet another ticket that suffers from one of the vagaries of printing in 1893. Inks were far less stable than in early 20th century, and they continued to improve for the next century.

Inks used on tickets at the WCE were very strongly susciptible to fading. I have seen dozens of collectors and sellers thinking they were selling a test or proof ticket when it was missing the serial number completely and in some cases multiple spot color--always the same color each instance.

The rare test, proof or specimen tickets are either black only for all printing or in the case of the main admission tickets, with a serial number of 00000. I suppose in one sense you could call the tickets with the missing numbers "error" tickets and some people might pay a small premium for them; but they're not the rare and valuable specimens.

The actual high grade yellow Movable Sidewalk tickets are a bright yellow; this one is definitely yellow and text and serial number are readable. One would like to see that yellow bright and the serial number a stronger red. MOST faded or missing inks are because of the pigments used, but SOME have faded from a variety of things from sunlight to excessive rare.

I have lowered the price because this isn't a gem--but any collector wanting a yellow Movable Sidewalk ticket would be strongly advised to purchase this one, and not because the price is very low. The rarer tickets are, the increased chance you may NEVER find another. I always, always recommend collectors to purchase even lower grade tickets if they are one of the more scarce tickets. You can always upgrade if you have the chance and probably recoup your total investment in the less than perfect example by selling it.

That's a lot to say....and to think about. I'm pricing this ticket at only $74.. What more can I say?