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Posted By: Robert Lifson

Dear Jim, I’d love to be able to provide a magic formula to help collectors protect themselves against sophisticated restoration techniques but I don’t have one. Every card is different. Every collection is different. Every collector is different. We often try to steer collectors who ask our advice to cards that are in the Good to Excellent range, with our thinking being that the risk is lower in terms of dollars, and the value represented by cards in these grades, in our opinion, is often much better (and granted this is totally subjective). This is also one of the reasons we are always excited to accept mid-grade and lower grade vintage cards. We like them. With reference to protecting collectors from problems, there is nothing that can replace a collector’s knowledge and personal comfort with a given card. Often two people can look at the same card and have different opinions. It’s important to actually look at the cards with a discerning eye rather than blindly go by the number on the label. We try to communicate to collectors that they are buying cards, not labels. The cards in holders are graded by people, not gods. In our last auction we had two T206 Green Background Ty Cobbs both graded PSA 4 VG-EX. One was a lot better than the other. Here are the links:
http://www.robertedwardauctions.com/site/bidplace.aspx?itemid=3713 Hammer price = $3250.

http://www.robertedwardauctions.com/site/bidplace.aspx?itemid=3752 Hammer price = $4250.

The better card sold for more. It should have. Certainly if one had an entire set of cards which were all conservatively graded as opposed to fairly graded or overgraded, the conservatively graded set would sell for a lot more. The point is that all PSA 4 VG-EX Green Background Cobbs are not the same and the market should not blindly value them the same. The same could be said for any given card in any given grade. I think the trend is for the marketplace to start seeing through the marketing of grading and look at the cards more. This includes taking into account the possibility of altered cards. One thing we have always done, which is related, is when cards have come from original family sources, or were collected exclusively or primarily in an era before restoration became rampant, we sometimes try to communicate this in the writeup. Many bidders find this information very valuable. I certainly do appreciate your concerns regarding graded cards. I do have some ideas that might be interesting in approaching the grading of cards. I don’t know how practical they are but I’d be happy to speak with you on the phone any time about this and look forward to doing so.

Sincerely,

Robert Lifson
President
Robert Edward Auctions LLC
www.RobertEdwardAuctions.com