Trade Value for Old Judge N??

[4scuda]

A gentlemen approached me at the flea market today with this Old Judge J. Ward. He wanted to trade it, we looked it up in the standard catalog and it booked way high. I have never owned an old Judge card and don't know much about them other than recognizing them when I see them. Question is the catalog price close to market? This seemed to have edge that was crooked from cutting. Where these cut out like a post cereal card? Any thought to value? I know that trade it for as little as I have to put in, guess I am wondering if the book is higher related to the market than the book is on some other prewar cards. He was thinking about trading for a V61 Cobb I had but thought the value weren't equal. In my mind no matter what a book says a Ty Cobb is going to be more recognizable and desirable than the old judge card in street clothes, unless you are a hard core collector.

[Joe_G.]

Hello 4scuda,

The card could be worth well more than book value if it were real and un-altered. Unfortunately, the Ward appears trimmed and re-backed at a minimum. Not only that but it also looks like it may not be real. Does the image have a dot matrix appearance when viewing under magnification? It should be an actual photograph with no dot matrix pattern.

Ward is among the easier HOFers but portraits do often carry a small premium. FYI, some of the portrait cards in the set are quite valuable. The Anson in Uniform and Deacon White in street clothes (McGreachery) cards are easily well into the six figures.

If Ward is authentic but altered, I'd estimate a value of around $300 due to the nice image. If it is a modern reproduction it is worth nothing.

[barrysloate]

It doesn't look real to me.

[RCMcKenzie]

From the scan, it looks like it is displaying the dot-matrix pattern that JoeG is talking about. It appears to be a repro from the scan. If it were real it would be a nice find for sure.

[Matthew H]

The crop marks make it look kinda fake, lol.

[4scuda]

I didn't notice the dot matrix look in person but it certainly appears in the photo. I get a closer look with a magnifying glass. It said it was a duplicate which may add to the suspicion. Was an older gentlemen who said it was bought at a show.

[z28jd]

I wouldn't touch that thing. Looks like a photocopy poorly pasted to a backing