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Posted By: Kevin Saucier

This is a good example of why every collector should have at least a halogen light, a 10X loupe as well as a black light as part of their collection. It also should be a good reason for PSA (and others?) to stop admittedly just eyeballing cards and actually use instruments for alteration detection.

Many have heard of rebuilt corners and added stock but few collectors have ever actually seen one....or at least a high-end example. The problem is that a quality rebuilt corner is very difficult, at best, to detect. As you can see here, this one got past the graders.

Here is how the card looks under normal conditions and ambient light. There seems to be no problems and it appears to be graded accurately. You cannot see the alteration.



When placed under a halogen light the cardboard will take on a slightly different appearance and small things such as dents, dings, toning, wrinkles, paper loss and recolored areas will reveal themselves. In this case, the halogen light and the angle of the card showed the added stock. This is magnified several times for effect. Although it loks obvious from the picture, believe it or not in person it is still very difficult to see. What looks to be a large lump is actually just a shadow effect.





Rebuilt corners and added stock need to be applied with an adhesive. In most cases a starch based glue is made and is the preferred method for joining paper. Under a black light these starches instantly illuminate revealing the altered areas. When inspecting cards it’s always a good idea to run them quickly under a black light...but a halogen and loupe are the most important inspection tools you can own.





Kevin Saucier