[benjulmag]

PSA to me bears a lot of similarities to Coaches Corner. The latter as one will recall defended its authentication of bogus autographs by saying all they were doing were rendering good faith opinions.

IMO, PSA's opinions as manifested by the high grades (e.g., 8s and higher) it has given certain vintage issues (e.g., T206s) is no different than the opinions Coaches Corner has given to the items it authenticates. In regard to the latter, my understanding is that the overwhelming consensus of experienced hobbyists is that the people who run Coaches Corner cannot in reality be so stupid, and that to the contrary they are engaging in out and out fraud.

How does this relate to PSA? IMO the overwhelming consensus of those of us who (i) have been around before cards had real value, (ii) attended the card shows of that era, (iii) know how cards were distributed and collected, and (iv) have seen/heard of the condition of the cards in raw finds that have surfaced over the years believe that no competent grading company can be so stupid as to believe many of the cards it assigns high grades to can possibly be unaltered when submitted for grading.

So, what is it? Are the people at PSA overseeing those graders who are churning out those high grades for those cards, and in the process perpetuating the economic viability of the card registry, really that stupid, or is it something else?