JSA Story on Autographalert.com

[prewarsports]

Put on your Depends undergarments Glyn I personally would find it easier to spot a fake autograph than a trimmed card and I have about the same amount of expertise in both cards and autographs.

Someone who knows what they are doing can take a 1 second look at a forged Ruth or Mantle and tell which is real and which is not. Even the good forgeries. Literally 1 second.

Even the best card experts in the world would need black lights, measuring devices and magnification etc. They could spot a fake Wagner in 1 second, but try looking at some T206 PSA 9 that has had 1/132" laser shaved off the top border and tell me how long if ever it takes to spot that!

I am not saying 2 experts would not reach the same conclusion, but a 1 second look with the naked eye is a heck of a lot easier than a few minutes with instruments to determine which is the worthless item.

I realize it is like pissing on a forrest fire to try and convince non autograph guys anything positive about the autograph hobby, but with a ton of experience in both cards and autographs, my "OPINION" is that there are more altered cards in PSA holders than there are fake autographs with PSA/DNA stickers.

No need to start anything on my statement above, it is just an opinion and despite anyone trying to tell me it almost made them piss their pants, I will stand behind it.

Originally Posted by prewarsports

I realize it is like pissing on a forrest fire to try and convince non autograph guys anything positive about the autograph hobby, but with a ton of experience in both cards and autographs, my "OPINION" is that there are more altered cards in PSA holders than there are fake autographs with PSA/DNA stickers.

I don't find this to be at all analogous. A T206 PSA 9 that has had "1/132" laser shaved off the top border" is still an authentic card that still has value. The grade is a misrepresentation, but the card is still real and possibly still very desirable. A fake autograph is completely valueless.

I think most of us can spot totally fake cards - things made in someone's basement on a laser printer - more easily than we can spot a fake signature created in someone's basement. And I'd wager that there are more fake autographs with PSA/DNA stickers than there are fake cards in PSA holders.

[David Atkatz]

Originally Posted by Karl Mattson

A T206 PSA 9 that has had "1/132" laser shaved off the top border" is still an authentic card that still has value

Yeah. It still has "value." What value? 1/10-1/100 the value it will actually sell for because it's been misgraded?

[shimozukawa]

Originally Posted by Karl Mattson

I don't find this to be at all analogous. A T206 PSA 9 that has had "1/132" laser shaved off the top border" is still an authentic card that still has value. The grade is a misrepresentation, but the card is still real and possibly still very desirable. A fake autograph is completely valueless.

Originally Posted by David Atkatz

Yeah. It still has "value." What value? 1/10-1/100 the value it will actually sell for because it's been misgraded?

I'm guessing, given the example, that the PSA 9 T206 would have the value of a PSA9 T206. After all, the grading company would reimburse (though potentially in free grading *hit head*) the difference between the PSA9 and the "Authentic" grades for that particular issue. By contrast, the fake autograph with the sticker would have no recourse.

[David Atkatz]

You make a fine point. You stick to cards, then, and I will stay with autographs. It's a matter of taste.

(But, after fifty years, I don't need a third party to tell me what's real, and what isn't.)