The plot of marking the backs of cards with large numbers, then being able to display any card freely called with any number called written on its back is Dr. Reinhard Rohnstein's, and is described in Ottokar Fischer's Illustrated Magic, 1931, p. 130. It was originally published by Rohnstein in the eighth installment of his Neue Kartenkunst in 1910, titled “Die Attribute des Zufalls - Das mit Zahlen oder Buchstaben versehene Kartenspiel”. The method was to cut the card called for secretly to the top of the deck. Then spread through the face-down deck to locate the card bearing the chosen number on its back. This card is placed on top of the deck and a double lift executed. The double is put into a clear goblet and then displayed there, first the back, then the front.
See also: Any Card at Any Number.