Good Golly Gash on the Five of Pentacles

blue_fusion

While waiting for the proofs of one of my projects, I decided to resume working on another project - a RWS clone. I normally compare images of each cards I see online just to see if there are little differences between them in terms of details or even small nuances - some which I incorporate into the images I'm making, and some which I don't.

Anyway, I was working on the 5 of Pentacles when I noticed this white gash running diagonally from the left to the right of the image. Strangely enough, it's in some of the scans I've seen and isn't in the others. Here's an image I found online with the gash in it: http://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/pkt/img/pe05.jpg

I tried searching for info on it here and on Google but couldn't find any mention of it.

I'm assuming it's a printing error (maybe a crack on the original printing stone, or something), and I'm just bringing it up in this section because it might be of interest to collectors (like, say, to indicate how one edition is different from another); though frankly, I don't think something as visibly big as that would have escaped the notice of RWS experts here. :D

Anyway, which editions have it?

-Ly

PS Curiously enough, I was working on this same project some 6 years ago when I also noticed something strange with the 3 of wands. (old thread on THAT one here: http://tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=116282 )
 

Abrac

Hi blue, that scratch seems to be associated with with the original printing plates and the decks that resulted from them: A, A w/Rose & Lillie Backs, and D. The original plates were destroyed in WWII and after the war new plates were made. The B & C are associated with those. Here's a link to high-resolution scans of all the versions.

http://tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=152736&highlight=high+resolution
 

blue_fusion

Aw shucks! And here I thought I found something noteworthy. haha Do we have an existing thread on RWS printing errors? Would love to see if some of the things I encounter are mentioned there. (e.g. as I'm currently doing the sevens and there's this weird horizontal line coming out of one of the swords, and at first I thought it was a flag but then realized that the other flags are being blown in the opposite direction).

Also, thanks for the link! It's a really big help in seeing the details of each card clearly!

-Ly