Circa 1999 - 2000, a bunch of T206's were in circulation that were being sold on Ebay (and at Shows) that were FAKES.
These T206's were very professionally altered, and these cards fooled many collectors. These FAKES were so good that
Grading Company's (PSA & SGC) graded them. However, for the most part these FAKES didn't fool a number of us, who
instantly recognized that these cards had impossible T206 front / back combos.
Fortunately for us T206 collectors, this scammer was not knowledgeable regarding the complex structure of the T206 set.
Here is an example of one of these FAKES.....
Courtesy Chris Brown
Off the top of my mind, here is a list of other FAKE examples which were in circulation back then......
Matty (portrait) with a
red HINDU back (PSA and SGC graded)
Matty (portrait) with a
SOVEREIGN 460 back (PSA graded)
Green
Cobb with a
red HINDU back
Green
Cobb with a
CYCLE 350 back
Johnson (pitching) with
BROAD LEAF 350 back
There were many more of these fakes in circulation.
Most in the hobby called these altered T206's "re-backed". I choose to call them "RE-FRONTED" DRUM's, red HINDU's, LENOX's, etc.
A professional paper restorer told me how it was easy to interchange the front / back combo of a T206. By first removing (erasing)
the front of a common T206 image from a card whose back was rare (i.e., DRUM, HINDU, LENOX, UZIT, etc.) Then, very precisely
appliqueing the desired FRONT onto the card with the rare back. He said there are glues that are undetectable for this process.
TED Z
T206 Reference
.