I know i have been posting alot about wire photos in the last week, but this is the last thread from me about them. How do you tell a type 1 from a type 2. I got my joe D at first in the mail today and i also i got another wire photo of Cochrane and Herman. On the back of the photo it has a news clipping with the same photo.So does this mean its a type 1 or 2. And with my DiMaggio it just has the slip of paper. Thanks for all the help in the last week.

If the photo images are sharp and clear, like made from the original crystal clear negative, they are are vintage first generation originals. The stuff on back proves they are vintage, so the only question is the quality of the image.

Original is original, there's no need to worry about that Type 1, Type 2 stuff. Those are just terms concocted to write a book.

Vintage is a descriptor of age only, and even if they turn out to have second generation images, the photos are still vintage and retain value. A photo can be made in the year the image was shot and have a second generation image, the second generation images being of lesser quality than the one made from the original negative. An example is wirephotos (photos made through the wirephoto process with copied images being sent through telephone wires to newspapers and magazines). Most wirephotos were made right after the images were shot (vintage), but the images are second generation. As they are vintage, wirephotos are popularly collected.

If your photos have crystal clear images, they aren't wirephotos but the originals. A wirephoto would have been made from an original. If the images are rougher (more muddied, less detail, lesser contrast), then they may be the vintage wirephotos.

But again, one way or the other, you can be assured that your photos are vintage and not modern reprints, as the stamps and paper on back prove their old age. And, at least with baseball photos, being vintage is at least half the battle value-wise.