Does this go much deeper than just cards?
 

Do you believe sports memorabilia, autographs, coins, comic books etc are effected by an equal amount of corruption? Collectors Universe has their hands in all of that and it’s hard to believe that, if you believe in their corruption, they would stop at just the card side of things.

It seems likely all are touched by fraud in some way.

All collectors can do is be diligent with every purchase.

I hear there are a lot of fake coins coming out of China lately.
But altering them has been with us probably longer than altering cards.
Same for Stamps, plenty of fakery and alterations, both fraudulent and well meaning.
Just have a look on the autograph side for that area. It may be worse than cards..

I'm not sure about memorabilia or comics, some are more complex objects and would be a bit harder to alter or fake. But if there's enough money I'm sure it happens. I know there are a few fake bicycles out there that are pretty basic but altered to appear to be more desirable.
Same with old cars.


This stuff is probably there in any hobby where there's money.

You seriously have to ask?
 

Can’t believe I have to point this out but there is fraud everywhere there is money to be made. To think otherwise is incredibly foolish.

I've mostly collected coins so I understand the coin side of TPG pretty well. Without a doubt, there are coin doctors and fraud. Most of that centers around artificially toning coins with vibrant colors. An untoned silver dollar in MS65 may bring a couple hundred dollars but with attractive multicolored toning, a couple thousand.

And the TPG's probably aren't any better at weeding that out than they are weeding out doctored cards.

There was a pretty famous coin grading scandal back in the late 1980's in which David Hall had to go into grading sports cards in order to survive it.

https://forums.collectors.com/discus...ct-of-interest

Did you notice this sentence?

If we buy a PCGS coin that looks like it has upgrade potential, we put it in a B&M or Kingswood auction and hope at least two bidders will make sure the coin brings a premium price.

How would you feel if you submitted a coin to be graded, you got a disappointing grade, you sell it back to the grader who's thinking, "I think we goofed on this one, it should've graded higher. Let's take advantage of that situation, buy it, and sell to someone who will see what we see, and resubmit to get the higher grade..."

Anything can be faked, that said, besides autographs, cards (and any ephemera) are the easiest.

The inevitable crash will happen....

Standing on the sidelines waiting for it.......

PWCC has been and is currently peddling on the memorabilia side of reproductions as authentic

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=259594

Nothing new...