Help Needed - 1948 Leaf Ruth & DiMaggio

[braves_43]

I recently acquired these 1948 Leaf Babe Ruth and 1948 Leaf Joe DiMaggio cards in a lot of 1950s & 1960s cards that I know are authentic. Since these are the high-dollar cards in the lot, I am just looking for some opinions on their authenticity. Do you think they're real or fake? Thanks so much!

[clydepepper]

Deron - I've never owned a DiMaggio, but I do have the Babe.

Your scans strain my old eyes but I am concerned about how uniform the rounded corners appear...doesn't look natural

The background on the Ruth looks a little shiny too.

I am no expert, these are just my opinions.

Here is my Babe so you can see one that I'm fairly sure is authentic:

BABE RUTH 1948 Leaf-3 PSA-5.jpg

Hope this helps you.

I always try to get graded cards if I'm getting high-dollar cards.

Good Luck,
Raymond
.
.

[braves_43]

Thanks for the response, I appreciate it. The back really isn't shiny, it's just my bad phone. I was trying to take a good picture but it didn't work too well. Anyways, the back is rough and dull.

I usually go for graded cards too if I'm going high-dollar but these were in a lot of other cards I knew to be authentic so I went for it.

The corners have me concerned too but they do look natural up close.

[7nohitter]

This will sound stupid, but do they smell old?

I ask because I recently purchased '48 REPRINTS and the definitely smell different than the original 48's I own.

[braves_43]

Yes, they do smell old!

I was going to put that in my original post but I didn't want to sound like a weirdo.

The first thing I did was smell them when I opened them up today - LOL.

They have a VERY distinct "old smell."

[7nohitter]

Originally Posted by braves_43

Yes, they do smell old!

I was going to put that in my original post but I didn't want to sound like a weirdo.

The first thing I did was smell them when I opened them up today - LOL.

They have a VERY distinct "old smell."

Ha, nice! I think it's easy to duplicate color, fake wear and round corners....but that smell...that only comes with age!

[ALR-bishop]

Deron-- you do not sound like a weirdo, but smelling around with Andrew could get you there.

[clydepepper]

But an 80-year-old with a smart-phone in his pocket set on vibrate complicates things, huh?

[braves_43]

Thanks for the responses so far guys.

I'm leaning towards them being authentic at this point.

Anyone else have any thoughts on them?

[braves_43]

Thanks for the responses so far guys.

I'm leaning towards them being authentic at this point.

Anyone else have any thoughts on them?

[JustinD]

Joe looks good, but I also think the wear on Ruth throws flags. I would not bid on it just because of the worry.

If you want the best return I would submit it, just to ease a buyers mind. Grading any Ruth, no matter the condition, is always best if to want to get a good return. He just is the most faked out there, hands down.

[JustinD]

The scans are hard to see, but now I am questioning Joe for sure also. Those fronts look a bit too glossy for a Leaf.

If these are shiny at all in person, it would be fairly doubtful. The 48 leaf had a fairly matte finish.

[braves_43]

Here are scans of the front and back of both cards. Hopefully these are more clear for you guys to see and give me an opinion as opposed to the crummy pictures from my phone. After looking at the scans, I'm thinking the Ruth is fake and the DiMaggio is real? I don't know. Let me know what you guys think. Thanks again!

[7nohitter]

The Ruth stock looks VERY white in the rips and creases....

[braves_43]

I agree. I'm 99.9% sure the Ruth is fake. The DiMaggio looks totally different so I'm thinking real on that one.

[Prof_Plum]

Just noticed that your 1940 PlayBall DiMaggio has a couple of creases eerily similar to the Ruth - could be simply a coincidence.

[braves_43]

Yes, I also noticed that as well.

The 1940 Play Ball DiMaggio is definitely fake and I'm pretty sure this Ruth is too.

I'm fairly certain all these cards are fake, the only one I'm holding out hope for is this 48 Leaf DiMaggio but if all the others are fake, I highly doubt this one would be real.

Oh well.

[Gr8Beldini]

Originally Posted by 7nohitter

This will sound stupid, but do they smell old?

I ask because I recently purchased '48 REPRINTS and the definitely smell different than the original 48's I own.

That's not stupid. It's the first thing I check when confronted with a card I'm not sure about.

[Exhibitman]

Here is my thought, and I don't mean it to sound snarky, so I apologize if it does:

PSA
SGC
BVG

Any of them will readily answer the authenticity question better than any of us can from a scan.

[braves_43]

Yes, I'm well aware that they can and I submit most of my cards to SGC. However, that comes with a fee. A fee that I'd like to avoid losing on a fake card if I can get some free opinions here on something that may be obvious to some because it is something that I am not familiar with. That's all I was looking for.

[campyfan39]

I think people looking at a scan on a computer is about as trustworthy as any grading company. Way, way too many mistakes to trust them

[braves_43]

Exactly. I'm just looking for opinions here before I would waste my money.

[Zach Wheat]

Deron,

I wonder why "white" paper shows through some of the crease marks on both the front, back and the top right front corner. That seems odd.

Z

[Econteachert205]

If it were me I would submit just the Joe d 48 leaf. It's your best shot and if it turns out good you won't mind losing money submitting another card. If it's bad you'll know the bunch is bad.

[glynparson]

There have been some authenticity mistakes by all the tpg. But in a major issue like this they are more likely to be correct than we can be in a definitive manner from a scan. For. The record I vote bad on both from the scans but I would make no gaurantee based on the scan I would be willing to make a gaurantee in person.

[steve_a]

Joe is a tough call. Sounds dumb but my biggest concern is that it is dead centered front & back. That is very unusual for the issue. It also has really good (but not perfect) registration which is unusual. Look very close on the back bottom. There will be a few flecks of red wet-sheet transfer from his name on most of these. If that green in your scan is on the card as wet-sheet that would be a concern, not typical to see that. Good luck! Rough neighbors in that group but might have a good one-