T206 Ty Cobb - Real or Fake?
 

I have the opportunity to purchase this card, but I do not know if it is real or fake. Additionally, if it is a fake, how can you tell? Any help you could give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

-Justin

front should be glossy, unlike a T206 card.

for this fact alone, the card is not really a T206 though many here believe so ;)

there are thousands of fakes of this card out there, and maybe a dozen authentic cards known, so the odds are not in favor of it being authentic.

cant tell 100% from the bad pic, if you can scan it with true colors it would help alot

glossy like a T213-2 card (1914 Coupon), the gloss should have crazing (small cracks in surface)

also the creases should show more breakage of the paper on front with white showing along some of the heavier creases, .....they are not light creases.

Its a multi-thousand dollar card and is not slabbed and that a big red flag right there too

Zero chance that is real. Frank is right on... plus the lighter color on the upper corners from artificial wear is a give away.

Want to prove it to yourself? Use a black light and watch the bleaching agents in the card floresce. A real one won't.

The paper looks completely wrong.

Agree with above. It isn't glossy, it isn't authentic. And if it was authentic it still wouldn't be a T206 (wouldn't want to miss a chance to not derail this). And it is the brighteners added to the paper that fluoresce.

agreed. I meant bleaching agents used in the paper to brighten it during its manufacture.

Right, Brian.

If you're thinking of buying that card, shine a black light on it first and see what happens.

Thank you for the information. Did a company actually produce reprints of this card, or are the fakes just an effort to dupe someone?

just fakes.

That'd easily be a 5 figure card. Word to the wise... until you can recognize definitively real from fake, only buy cards that have been graded by SGC or PSA. You'll save yourself headaches - not to mention money.

To me it is funny that there is a full picture of the back of the card yet the picture of the front of the card does not show Cobb's name. Wouldn't having Cobb's name shown help to better determine if this card is a worthless fake?

David

It's fake.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/T206-Ty-Cobb...item35b6dc8898

There has got to be a better way for these guys to simulate corner wear - this looks like it just got the sandpaper treatment.

nice catch Anthony :)

since it was bought for $10, what was the guy asking for the card?

thats the kind of crook that deserves to pick his teeth up off the ground if he tried to screw me like that...

Nobody would sell a Cobb with Cobb back raw and in a screwdown case. That's all I would need to know. It's fake.

D'oh. There you go.

And as for that PSA / SGC line up there, a fellow would do well to buy a Cobb/Cobb card only if he knew what to look for; a slip on a slab isn't proof of what's in the slab. Those slips have been wrong before.

Unless it was found in 'Grandpa's attic' or 'Grandma's storage locker'. ;)

It was found in a storage shed. :)

Good catch, Anthony. He actually purchased the card on November 20 and listed it again claiming that he did not know it was a fake.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ty-Cobb-T206...item3f10e1f79f

I reported him to eBay, but I'm not sure what good that will do. I hate to assign homework when I'm new to a forum, but I'd appreciate it if others would do the same.

www.ebay.com/itm/Ty-Cobb-T206-Red-Backround-/270867903673

Again.....

You mean to say he's selling a Cobb with a Cobb back, but does not take the time to scan the back? Good salesman!

That's actually kind of smart. He simply prints at the bottom of the listing 'Ty Cobb King of the Smoking World.' It makes him look like he doesn't know what he has, and the bidders might think they are stealing from a fool.

.......
 

If you are going to spend that kind of money, by a (psa, sgc) graded card.......way to risky for me. Just my 2.

I love how that fake has a missing spot of red similar to the genuine one that was auctioned a couple years back:

http://www.goodwinandco.com/LotDetail.aspx?lotid=10992

A 20?
 

How the hell did the real one grade a twenty with TWO spots of paper loss on the FRONT of the card!

On pure awesomeness alone.

Don't question it. It was done by SGC so it is accurate, if it was PSA we could discuss it and point out how bad PSA is compared to SGC.