1972 Topps Venzuelan

[sschauer]

From the discussion over on PSA board had a census that these are counterfeit.

I need to backtrack... I stand corrected about an oversight error I've made.

The cards I based my opinion on were not the mint looking ones being sold on eBay by Gilberto, rather a large grouping of lower grade commons I've owned since long before Gilberto's cards came to light. There were indeed two printers who made all the original cards, that information I am confident in.

However, I just examined a couple of the mint looking specimens more closely, and while they were definitely professionally printed, there are distinct differences in the cards that forces me to have to completely reverse my opinion. Maurice, my sincere apologizes, even though you didn't present a fundamental basis to make your claim that they were counterfeits, they are indeed counterfeits. And very good ones at that.

It is beyond my comprehension how someone could be so dumb as to counterfeit this set, but then again, it is easy to underestimate what people will do to make a quick buck.

The differences I just noticed between the "mint" newly found cards and the true originals are:

1) The entire green background is printed in half-tone when it was solid ink on the originals.
2) All of the green background borders are perfectly square with precision that only a computer could provide
3) The black ink is indeed printed as a solid color, but the font does not match exactly.
4) The images are very grainy but printed with high density half-tone, which would indicate they were likely scanned off originals.

I'll come right out and admit my error in this case. I was absolutely incorrect. I also vouched for Gilberto Gil, who I have dealt with in the past, but who clearly had a key hand in this. My apologies to everyone who participated in this discussion.