Just looking for a second opinion
 

I just bought this Titus about a month ago fully aware of most of the issues with it. When I got it I noticed someone had tried to peal off the scrap book paper and stopped before doing anymore damage than already done, so I just put it in my binder as is knowing nothing good would come from soaking it. Then just before I had to go to work yesterday I happened to pull this card out my binder and when the light hit it I noticed that the surface has a lot of crackling on the front. So I guess I just want confirm that the card is fake.

Ok here are some better scans.

I think it’s real

Interesting wrinkles, but it real.

Beyond that it's real, I've never heard of someone putting fake album paper on a reprint.

It was just weird when I noticed it thought maybe a doctored or something. I've just been having really bad luck lately and thought it was spilling over into my card collection.

Looks real. I don’t think soaking would hurt it, if done properly, but it wouldn’t be guaranteed to get all the paper off the back.

I think more of the front would flake off during a soak. I wouldn't do it, unless you don't mind losing more of the border (and possibly image). It would really only make sense if you think there's a rare back hiding underneath.

I’d be a little reluctant to soak it due to the chipping and flaking that you see. You might start to lose pieces of the cardboard and ink in the soaking process. I’m not saying it’s necessarily the case but I’ve soaked T206s before and had that happen.

Looks like either a Piedmont or Tolstoi back, based on what's peeking through the scrapbook paper, where you can see a "B" and part of a diagonal triple line in the upper left part, and part of the border on the middle right. Most likely a Piedmont.

I'm guessing it was soaked poorly or with a solvent already which might account for the crazing as it shrunk. Even the exposed paper on the front, which typically turns dirty very quickly, is still whitish. I think a water soak is pointless, and in fact dangerous as the card is very fragile at this point and the backing paper is actually helping to hold it together.

Its good agree with scott

This was my thought as well. Leave it be

Yeah it's just a Piedmont back so nothing to gain.

Thank you to everyone for the help. The card is back in the binder where it belongs.

And on a side note I finally bought a blacklight this afternoon and checked all of my cards and aside from a few overly cleaned T218's nothing seems to look fake.

I thought you were going to say that when you took it out of your binder that you could see a faint UZIT image visible through the scrapbook paper that wasn’t previously visible.

I wish, but I almost bid on a card that I thought I could make out a Carolina Brights back through scrapbook paper a few years ago, but the seller pulled the auction a few hours before I could bid crazy amounts for it.

Sounds like the seller found out too. :)

As for the card in question, real and I too would leave it be, (maybe). :cool:

It looks real to me too but I would probably not risk soaking that one. Just my humble opinion.