1) The language/rhetoric the seller uses. A good seller of a real card (and according to eBay's own rules) says in no nonsense terms what he is selling and that it is genuine. Sellers of counterfeits won't do that but will say stuff like "it looks real to me, but according to eBay rules I have to sell as unuathenticated reprint" (there is no such ebay rule), "I'm no expert, but it looks real to me. You be the judge," etc. Most sellers of fakes use a lot of words and serpentine, ambiguous and double sentences, but don't actually ever tell you that they are selling you a real card.
2) Compare to real cards from the issue. There will always be big differences:
Article on the subject
3) Learn what genuine corner and edge wear looks like.
4) Ask collectors what the front/back gloss/texture to the card is. Gloss is hard to reproduce, and the backs and fronts of the real cards often have different glosses/textures. For example, the fronts of the T206s are smooth with a slight gloss, while the backs are fibery and have no gloss.
5) For Pre-WWII cards, get a black light, as blacklight can identify many Post-WWII cardstock.
Article on blacklight:
08-12-2017, 01:33 PM
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