T206 Honus Wagner-Piedmont

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Posted By: J Levine

I will answer your questions for you eventhough I really doubt you will listen to any of my advice.

In answer to your questions:

1. NO, not all reprints have company names on them. You are correct that many companies do print their name on it but I know for a fact that many do not. I used to work for a print shop and printed up several t206 wagners on older paper (pre-1930) to use as joke for a dealer friend of mine. They were reprints without any company mark. I also destroyed them all after the joke. This was in 1989. Your assertion is that it must have a company attatched to it and that is incorrect. For all any of us know, you printed the cards.

2. Authentication is not grading. But I disagree again your statement that grading is not authentication. In order to grade an item, you must first establish vailidity of the item (ask Joe Orlando). If I were to hand you a peach and tell you that I graded it a AAA10 orange. Would you believe the grading company? Of course not. It would have no validity because the grading company did not authenticate it first as a peach. Grading companies try to pride themselves on not only their grading standards but recognizing the product they are handed. (BTW, the article you sight further in your comments has Joe Orlando clearly stating that they authenticate first, grade second).

3. I agree with you that the two are not graded but many baseball card experts have verified the cards and they have provenance (a record of who, when, and how they were obtained). And before you say it, remember that provenance needs to date back a great deal, not some mall show a few years ago. Call Cooperstown and ask them, they will tell you exactly where the cards came from.

4. You misquoted your own article...Here is all Bill said in that article, "Bill Mastro says the card is almost certainly a reprint. The P in "PITTSBURG" should be slightly larger than the other letters, he says. It's the same size as the rest. "That's the only discrepancy," Edwards counters. "That's what makes it unique. One of one."

If anyone wants to read the entire article it is here:

http://www.honuswagner.com/viewheadline.php?id=2554

BTW, many of the reprints including the dover ones do in fact have the factory number. Even my reprint mentioned above had the factory and state.

5. Actually, we question that card all the time. I myself have handled that card and feel that it was trimmed slightly. If you do a search on our site you will find us pulling apart that Wagner fairly regularly. Not to mention bashing every grading company. We are all tough critics of grading companies. Heck, some of our members even sued a grading company.

As to science, we believe, if you read some of the responses we tried to contact your "experts" but to no avial. Also, your experts do not seem to have the needed expertise just from reading their resumes.

6. Most of us would have it graded. It can be done fairly safely at onsite grading visits at shows that are probably held in your area fairly regualarly. It is safe to say that we might not send it in for grading but if you are that certain it is real, take a $100 plane flight to PSA and get it graded. Heck, I would pitch in some money just to fly you out here to get it graded at the company of your choice--PSA or SGC.

7. This is the place for most of the information. In the past few years, I have learned more on how these cards were printed, by who, where, and when. The Net54 guys really do know more about T206 cards then just about anyone else and are often consulted on articles, grading, research, pricing, etc. We hate on your card because it is an obvious fraud and your hurt our hobby when you try to run an auction stating it as real.

8. I see no skin color and for you to say that is actually an insult. Black, white, red, yellow, purple, if your Wagner was real, we would buy it in a heartbeat. Give up the race card. It just hurts your case.

As a last thought, I am also saddened to see that you did not sign your name. You own your card and your thoughts, sign your name so we know which owner we are dealing with. No jokes above, I answered your questions fairly and thoughtfully and hopefully you will read my response with an open mind and take it to heart.

Joshua Levine