Agree with all of the above and welcome back Robbie. Personally, I've had several items intentionally graded as Authentic for various reasons (mostly T3 Turkey Reds in pretty rough shape). There's a few scenarios that are somewhat related in my opinion. In your case though I wouldn't be particularly concerned in terms of "Authentic" equating to altering or anything malicious.
1. Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong but I feel like at some point in the last ten years or so certain types of memorabilia (esp those not graded as frequently compared to cards) ping ponged around when it came to grading and "Authentic" was the only option for grading specific items. Wasn't worth the graders time to give it a number.
2. Preservation - Given their age and condition I wanted my T3s to be slabbed to help preserve them. They weren't looking too hot and I wanted to keep them in the condition I bought them in. I knew they wouldn't get higher than a 2 if graded so when submitting I said simply grade as Authentic if it's a 2 or lower. Was probably around 2013. At the time it was merely for my collection and I could have cared less about a particular grade.
3. Grading specials - Over the years there's been grading specials where you can get these things graded at a discount (Authentic or Bust History as I like to call it) particularly with oddly shaped and random items. In the case of my T3s they automatically cost around $75 at a minimum to grade so I jump whenever there's a discount. Could have been the case with your item.
P.S. Thanks Leon for making me literally LOL. Immediate disaster might be an understatement!
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