1954 Aaron RC
 

I'm down to the Aaron to finish my 1954 Topps set. Someone locally told me about one a collector had that lives about 75 miles from me. I drove to his home yesterday and looked at the card. The card is in a PSA holder and has no grade. It is just labeled Authentic.

Should I be concered with the fact it has no grade? It looks to be a good 5 or 6 to me. I know that there are lots of Aaron fakes in the market. Are there things that I can look for to tell a fake from the real thing?

Keith

Have him send you scans and post them here.

Aaron Rc
 

Keith -

If it's in a PSA holder with a "grade" of Authentic, the card is likely not fake. Best guess without seeing the card is that it has been trimmed, especially if it looks like an EX example. Often, cards w/ that "grade" in that shape sell for higher prices than those untampered examples w/ creases or soft corners in PSA 1-4 holders simply due to the eye appeal.

It's up to you whether you are okay with a trimmed card or not to complete the set.

If you're concerned about the card's authenticity, bring another '54 Topps card and a loupe with you, and compare them side by side.

1. Look at the 'small action pose' players hand in the bottom left corner. They should be clear enough to see..fakes will be very dark and cannot see the fingers. The face is also the same.
2. Notice the lighter areas are too light (orange, skin of color portrait), when compared to the darker areas which are too dark (shadows under hat, hair)

If the card has been graded authentic, its just that, "Authentic". Its graded that way, because there has been some sort of alteration done to the card, to warrant such, as was mentioned in a previous post. Its not necessarily trimmed, but something has been done to the card to warrant that grade.

Thanks for all the replies and help. I went back last night and checked the card
and the fingeres on the hand were very clear. I checked it as close as I could with another 54 card from my collection and it measured the same from left to right but was a very small amount short from top to bottom. Bottom line is I came home with the card. My thought was that it I'd never find another for the price that fits as nice with my set. I'll break it out of the holder and add it to
my set. I now have completed the 48 Bowman, 52 Topps, 54 Topps and 56 through 62 Topps sets along with a complete run 52 to 55 of Red Man. Since I have a 55 Koufax I'll probably start on that set next.

Thanks again--Keith

Congrats on completing your set. The 54 set has always been one of my favorites.

I've found that if there are other alterations (other than trimming), there will be a notation of "altered" on the flip. But maybe that's only a recent change w/ PSA graded cards.

At any rate, congrats on finishing the set!! Very cool!!

Congrats on finishing a very cool set!

Any chance you can still post a scan? Would love to see the card...my 54 Aaron may be my most favorite card and I love to see others...

Here's a photo (I hope) of the 54 Aaron that I purchased this week.

I hope it shows because I've never posted a photo before.
I didn't know whether to attach it or try to copy and paste.

Keith

Nice looking card, well done.

Very nice. Congrats!

Very nice! Congrats!

A true beauty. Nice pick up on a an all time classic cad.
Drew

54 Aaron authentic
 

Just my 2 cents worth. Authentic does not always mean there is something wrong with the car. I have sent many cards to SGC with the instructions that I do not want a numerical grade. Too many times I disagree with number grades but my cards are nice and I want them authenticated so I ask for the authentic grade and they oblige. I have sold cards to people with this information. No grade but they can make their own judgment on what they determine the grade to be. I have friends who do this also. My point is that there is not always something wrong with an authentic grade.Nice Aaron and you might be hard pressed to find something wrong with it.

Don Miller

PS The reason is started this lack of trust in grades in general was when I sent some super condition right out of the pack cards that I had taken out in 1963 and they came back as trimmed.They were not trimmed and I knew that for a fact,hence my distrust in grading especially when it had to do with trimmed. How many T-206's have been called trimmed when we know they weren't?