Posted By:
PaulPaulPaulI recently picked up a Buchner Gold Coin (N284) of Von Der Ahe, the only card from this set I've ever owned. It is currently entombed in an SGC holder. Like a few strange people on this board, I usually break my cards out of their holders. But I noticed something a little unusual about this card, and wanted to check if it's typical for this set.
When I tilt the card to the light, I see about a dozen irregularly shaped regions that reflect the light differently than the rest of the card. The regions come in all kinds of irregular shapes, some similar to ovals, some similar to crescents, some almost circular, etc. Through the SGC holder, they each look like they have a little thickness to them. The best description I can give is that they look spots of perfectly clear glue. When I look at the spots under a magnifying glass, the pattern of dots that make up the card appear to be exactly correct, even within these spots. I'd post a scan, but unfortunately the spots won't show.
Have any of you ever seen anything like this before? Since SGC has already graded the card, I think it's unlikely that there's anything wrong with it. But I'd hate to break it out of the holder and find myself with a card that another grader rightly or wrongly concludes is ungradeable. I suppose it's possible that these things are actually drops of glue, since it is a lowgrade card.
Thanks in advance.