[ls7plus]

Get a loupe -- 16x does quite nicely--and check out the print dot pattern under magnification. Compare it if possible to other cards in the same set. If the pattern is regular, it has almost certainly been printed from the original plate and is legitimate. However, if the dots lack a regular pattern and seem randomly dispersed, it has most likely been re-screened, and is indeed counerfeit. Certain portions of the card, often such as team logos or perhaps facsimile signatures, will have solid, unbroken lines making up this part of the card, whereas on a counterfeit, what was solid on an original card will be made up of fuzzy dots. On other cards, such as the Topps 1991 Desert Shield, the counterfeiters were making up fake shield logos to attach to regular Topps cards, and the way to distinguish real from fake was to be familiar with the original, legitimate design.

The better you know what a legitimate card is supposed to look like, the easier it will be to recognize a counterfeit, because you will be able to spot something that is not quite right upon careful examination. Back in the '90's, before professional grading had gained a widespread hold on the hobby, there were a lot of fake 1984 Fleer Update cards of Gooden and Puckett floating around which bore a team logo which could be distinguished from the real thing by magnification and examination of the dot patterns in that area, but you had to know what that area of the card was supposed to look like.

And while you've got your loop out, check the edges for trimming (you cannot tell if a card has been trimmed by measuring it!). If the cut is rough as it should be for a stack of cards cut on a guillotine, shear-type press, it is legitimate. On the other hand, if it is razor sharp, it will be rejected for trimming (it is my understanding that these cards, where they measure correctly, have been put through a paper press to make them slightly larger, then trimmed back to exact size with a very sharp cutting instrument).

Good luck in hunting your raw beasts--I used to do that, but found it was simply less time consuming in most cases to buy graded cards from PSA or SGC.

Larry