Honus Wagner T206

[swschultz]

If you don't mind me asking - what gives it away as not real? A few tips can keep me from wasting time with other potential purchasing considerations in the future.

[ChiefBenderForever]

All the printdots give it away to me, but I am no expert but 100% sure it is fake.

[teetwoohsix]

I'm also no expert,but there's something not right about the lines on the back of the card in the Piedmont design.......maybe it's the scan-but I doubt it.

[swschultz]

I did not know if the "dot matrix" look was due to the printer itself or due to the texture in the paper. I'm guessing the real cards did not have this paper texture. I have not seen a real one in person, or very close up for that matter online.

[teetwoohsix]

The funny thing is when you see a mysterious ungraded Honus suddenly appear for sale(usually a fake,of course)it seems as though it's always mangled ,burnt,half torn,etc.............

[ChiefBenderForever]

You have a much better chance of fathering Angelina Jolies next child than coming accross an unknown Honus but either is possible if you got extremely lucky.

[Doug]

Originally Posted by JohnnyHarmonica

You have a much better chance of fathering Angelina Jolies next child than coming accross an unknown Honus but either is possible if you got extremely lucky.

Someday I hope to do both!

[T206Collector]

If you have to ask, then it isn't a real Wagner. Period.

You have a better chance of winning the lottery than coming across an authentic one.

Other red flags include:

-No box around the image
-The dot matrix pattern
-The fact that it is absolutely charred (intent to deceive)

I would recommend that you hold/own a few authentic and cheap T206 cards before you venture into Big 4 territory.

[sbfinley]

Originally Posted by swschultz

If you don't mind me asking - what gives it away as not real? A few tips can keep me from wasting time with other potential purchasing considerations in the future.

It's a Wagner. Not being mean, but seriously.

[fkw]

One thing I always look at is the gap between the "G" on the uniform and the border. This clown knew this and burnt the card in that spot to cover up the easiest way to see a fake. He didnt know you can also tell it is a cropped photo because the thin black line around the photo is missing too.

Caption is not bold enough, but the font style looks fairly good for a reprint.

[autograf]

touched or held a REAL T206, why would you start with a Wagner? That's like beginning driving with a Bentley. You need to search ebay for a low grade PSA1-2 T206 card, buy it, crack it out and touch it and figure out the paper quality, look at the printing, etc. For $20-$30, that's a great investment. If you're looking to score by buying a $200 T206 Wagner that may be real, then you'll be ripped off every time. While you can generally tell by looking if a T206 is real or not in a scan from having touched and felt a number of them, it's still never a 100% surety unless you have the card in front of you and get a change to really check it out.

As Dennis Miller used to say, that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.....

[Gary Dunaier]

Resurrecting an old thread (the last post before this one is almost ten months old) to ask if there's any kind of census identifying the owners/locations of all known T206 Wagners. With such an important card, that would go a long way towards keeping track of the real ones.

Cards that are already "slabbed" can be identified by the unique serial number on their labels... though I wonder if such T206 Wagners have been cracked out of their "slab" for a hopeful upgrade.

[FUBAR]

Frank, i was thinking the font was the giveaway fro me. As far as I know the first letter is a different size then the rest and these ones all look the same..

Burning is usually an indication as well as it is usually done to make it look old.

[terjung]

It's a shame that people don't take better care of their reprints.

[Matt]

Originally Posted by Gary Dunaier

Resurrecting an old thread (the last post before this one is almost ten months old) to ask if there's any kind of census identifying the owners/locations of all known T206 Wagners. With such an important card, that would go a long way towards keeping track of the real ones.

Cards that are already "slabbed" can be identified by the unique serial number on their labels... though I wonder if such T206 Wagners have been cracked out of their "slab" for a hopeful upgrade.

Gary - one of the major auction houses in the past year (Legendary?) had a section in their catalog which traced the ownership of the best condition T206 Wagners and where they are now, much to the dismay of a few of the current owners.

[Jim VB]

Originally Posted by Gary Dunaier

Resurrecting an old thread (the last post before this one is almost ten months old) to ask if there's any kind of census identifying the owners/locations of all known T206 Wagners. With such an important card, that would go a long way towards keeping track of the real ones.

Cards that are already "slabbed" can be identified by the unique serial number on their labels... though I wonder if such T206 Wagners have been cracked out of their "slab" for a hopeful upgrade.

Gary,

As Matt alluded to, many of the people who currently own T206 Wagners would prefer that everyone in the world NOT know about their ownership.

[Jewish-collector]

It was at the 2008 Net54 dinner in Chicago that an auction house talked about all the different Wagners. I believe a few of those Wagners he was referring to belonged to guys who were sitting in the room.