1925 Exhibit Lou Gehrig, Is this real?

[mintacular]

Bought a large collection recently, and this was in it. There were several old exhibits including this one. Not sure if it is real or a reprint. Thanks for your opinion.

[Leon]

My immediate response from the scan is it is a reprint. The coloring, corners and back just don't look right to me.

[CobbSpikedMe]

I agree with Leon. The bright white back and corners don't look right to me either.

[slidekellyslide]

Does the black light test work on exhibit cards?

[Exhibitman]

Corner wear looks manufactured, but if you think it is real send it to SGC or PSA.

[nolemmings]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Corner wear looks manufactured, but if you think it is real send it to SGC or PSA.

Agreed, especially the top corners. Also agree with the others on the color and back.
I always get suspicious when I see a card like this. Somewhat rounded corners, evidencing that it has been well handled, yet still showing no corresponding blemishes on the back and the edges show no hints of dings, chips, or wear (look at edges from the back). Such uneven wear nearly always makes me stay away.

[NATCARD]

I know this is hard to see in the images but just having received a bunch of 20's exhibits back from SGC the card appears thin. I agree back looks bad as well.

[ls7plus]

Originally Posted by Leon

My immediate response from the scan is it is a reprint. The coloring, corners and back just don't look right to me.

+1 on all three, plus seems a bit too grainy. Take a loupe to it and check the dot pattern. It should be linear and regular. Most counterfeits were made by photographing a real card and re-screening it, resulting in an irregular dot patter.

Best of luck,

Larry

[mintacular]

Thanks everyone, appreciate your insights

[mintacular]

Just for kicks I sent this to comc and they listed as

1925 Exhibits White Box Lou Gehrig Poor to Fair.

What do I do now?

[SMPEP]

Wait ... everyone who's opinion you asked said it was fake ... real experts opined ... and you're allowing COMC to list this as real???

Wow.

[whitehse]

If you were sure this was a reprint why would you send it to COMC and now you want opinions as to what to do?

Where is the eye roll emoji when I need one.

[mintacular]

I have not listed it. I had the card laying around and figured what they hey send it with my next comc batch it will probably get a reprint or whatever designation but maybe someone would buy it for $5.

[mintacular]

I would NEVER knowingly defraud anyone. But what if they could be right? In the original collection there was some legit older stuff and while the 4 or 5 posters gave their OPINION that it is a likely reprint, what if it's not?

[swarmee]

Originally Posted by mintacular

1925 Exhibits White Box Lou Gehrig Poor to Fair.

What do I do now?

Send them an email or call them and ask that they authenticate it. They may want you to pay the $2 COMC Condition Review in the Grading options. They will not allow you to list counterfeits, only authorized reprints. So you might get it sent back to you instead.
I don't see it in the "Sold Out" listings for 1925 Exhibits. Can you send the link to the page the card is on?

[Exhibitman]

If you legitimately believe that there’s any chance that this thing is genuine then send it to a legit TPG for confirmation. If not, get it back from COMC or make them add reprint to the listing. Doing what you’re doing now lacks integrity.

[mintacular]

Adam, what are you talking about? I haven't listed the card for sale it is sitting in my port. It was sent in to sell as a reprint for $5 or so but someone at COMC graded it authentic, so I'm at the phase trying to get the correct determination. The unethical thing for me to do right now is list that card with a high price. Understand the OPINIONS I got from the board members were based on scans and those folks even cautioned me their opinion is not the same as if they could hold the card in hand. I can't tell you how many times I've posted a card on a message board and the opinions didn't bear out. For example, I bought two raw '80 BB Henderson RC that I thought could get 8s, and posted them. Almost every single poster commented that they would get less than 8 based on this and that. I sent them in. Both cards got 8s

[mintacular]

I decided to pay $2 for a COMC condition review, we will see what happens.

[griffon512]

Patrick,

I think you have a legitimate quandary. Your Gehrig deviates the most from authentic Gehrigs in a few areas: 1. the yellowish tint on the front and back of the card does not look like typical toning of an authentic '25 Gehrig. Here's an example: https://sports.ha.com/itm/baseball/1...umbnail-071515. 2. The roughly even corner wear bothers me. It may have been fabricated to look aged. 3. The stock showing signs of wear are not typical of a 100 year old card.

It's difficult to tell from your pics, but based on these deviations from norm I think the odds of this being authentic are 10-15%.

I suggest you do a couple things. 1. Buy a black light (they're available for under $10) and see how it looks in a completely dark room using that device. If it does not fluoresce or only shows dim brightening under a black light here's a very good chance the paper stock is pre-1950s. If it fluoresces brightly it's a modern reprint. Though not every card that does not fluoresce is vintage (read this article: https://sabrbaseballcards.blog/2017/...uthentication/), most are. Every card that does fluoresce is modern (post late 1940's optical brighteners were added to most paper and these brighteners will glow when exposed to UV light) as far as I know. You can compare how it looks under a black light versus other 20's or 30's cards or post 1950's cards if you have those in your collection. Depending on how this goes you want to go to step 2. Call SGC and ask them if they will give you a discounted rate to review it. It might not be worth it if it costs you over $300 to review it and in all likelihood it comes back as not authentic after review, so you're going to have make a determination based on an expected value equation. You could also sell it raw -- hopefully with all the appropriate caveats for transparency -- and let someone else decide what to do with it.

[Peter_Spaeth]

If I thought there was a ghost of a chance this was real, given what it would be worth, I would pay SGC or PSA to review it. I cannot understand why, since you claim to still cling to that ghost of a chance, you haven't done the same. A $2 COMC review, what's that?

Why not auction it here and cross reference this thread? Let this group decide.

[Rhotchkiss]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

If I thought there was a ghost of a chance this was real, given what it would be worth, I would pay SGC or PSA to review it. I cannot understand why, since you claim to still cling to that ghost of a chance, you haven't done the same. A $2 COMC review, what's that?

Why not auction it here and cross reference this thread? Let this group decide.

+1. If this card is real, and is sitting in an SGC or PSA flip, it’s worth $25k+. Not sitting in that flip, it’s worth maybe $500 as a lottery ticket. Take the card back, get it authenticated, and then sell it for a ton of it is real.

As an aside, I said “authenticate”, bc I trust that PSA and SGC can detect a reprint. Based on everything we see lately, I have less trust in them detecting alterations.

Ryan Hotchkiss

[pokerplyr80]

Some of you seem to be getting pretty worked up over nothing. Assuming the OP is telling the truth and thought the card was probably a reprint I don't see any issue so far. Since he regularly sells on COMC it only cost him a couple bucks to send this card along and have someone there review it. If they confirm it is a reprint he can just sell it as one and move on. If they say it may be real then submit to PSA and hope he hit the jackpot.

The card is not listed for sale, so no harm has been done thus far.

[Peter_Spaeth]

If I had a potentially 25K card I am not going to rely on a $2 COMC opinion to give it up for the $10 it will sell for as a reprint. Just saying.

[pokerplyr80]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

If I had a potentially 25K card I am not going to rely on a $2 COMC opinion to give it up for the $10 it will sell for as a reprint. Just saying.

I agree. If I had purchased a lot and thought there was even a 1% chance this card was real it would go straight to PSA. The OP's actions only make sense to me if he was almost certain it was fake but is now trying to find out if it is worth paying the grading fees.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by pokerplyr80

I agree. If I had purchased a lot and thought there was even a 1% chance this card was real it would go straight to PSA. The OP's actions only make sense to me if he was almost certain it was fake but is now trying to find out if it is worth paying the grading fees.

I can't imagine a COMC review will add anything of value to the equation. If the OP isn't convinced entirely by the responses he got here, I am sure he could find someone knowledgeable who would examine it for him in person, be it at a show or otherwise.

To be clear I am not at all suggesting any wrongdoing by the OP, I just don't think his approach is rational.

[pokerplyr80]

I think we're in agreement Peter. Although for 2 bucks if COMC already had this card I would probably just pay for their review then arrange for them to send my card to PSA if there is any chance it may be real.

I certainly wouldn't have sought out their opinion first though.

[mintacular]

I accepted the boards opinion originally it was very likely a reprint so just threw it in my latest comc submission where bam they listed it as real. So for $2 why not grade it plus I'm curious how that service works

[mintacular]

From there, I probably will have it sent back and then find someone who knows these exhibits to look at it in person

[mintacular]

And then from there MAYBE submit to psa if said individual thinks it COULD actually be real

[bcbgcbrcb]

I think Peter’s assessment makes the most sense. I would even go so far as to say $50K+ value, if real, for an example this clean with no writing on the back. Does it really make any sense to jerk around with a $2 authentication fee? Patrick, unless you are 100% sure that it’s fake, the only sensible thing is to send to SGC or PSA. Anything short of that, you do know that it’s fake and are trying to possibly maximize your return from it.

[mintacular]

Phil I obviously do not know it is a fake why would I post all this stuff, ask the board, etc., and then post this COMC update? I don't appreciate any insinuations that I am trying to do something unethical/fraudulent, I actually care about this hobby and would feel horrible if someone was stuck with a fake based on my actions.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Patrick I think the mistake you made was assuming COMC would know the first thing about this card. I can't imagine they are capable of rendering an opinion one could reasonably rely on. So I would proceed as you have proposed to get the card back in hand and figure out from there how to satisfy yourself that it is indeed fake, which I believe it is.