Authentic Old Judge card?
 

I'm an autograph guy and know very little about 19th century cards. Does anyone see any clues as to the authenticity of the Old Judge card in this auction? I'm asking apart from the purported auto on the back, though feel free to weigh in on that as well. Thanks.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/261160606142...=p5197.c0.m619

Many red flags. Card appears very grainy, looks more like a ink printed image than a photograph. In areas where the image is scuffed, it appears too white. Horrible cut on all four sides. I always prefer to see in person but it is bad enough that I'd steer clear. You could always ask the seller some more probing questions.

very grainy and pixelated, even the letters. looks like keefe is caught in a snowstorm. looks more like a g&b gum than OJ.

seller has crappy cards in PSA holders, no way he'd sell this card raw if it's real.

Hey, it's only at $3.25 right now... take a chance... hahahahaha.... save your cash and take it off your watch list...

Looks fake to me.

n172 auto
 

Is there such a thing as an autographed n172? At least it is in pencil. Maybe it is just an owner writing the player's name on the back for identification. It's worth a couple of bucks as a novelty if nothing else.

I doubt it's just the owner writing the name on the back as it is very close to Keefe's actual signature. It's more likely that someone forged the signature (assuming that the card is a reprint, which it certainly appears to be).

Fake as a $3 bill. Bogus as a stripper's claim to be working her way through college. Worthless as a politician's promise.

n172 signed Keefe HOF
 

Let me rephrase what I said... It's worth a couple of bucks to me as a novelty. I think it's funny. I would be a buyer at the current level of less than $4.

I love "mighty bombjack"

I Agree With Joe
 

Kind of hard to tell with 100% certainty, but there are just too many "maybes" for me to think the card is real.

I'm no handwriting expert, but the autograph seems dubious as well.

Card on EBAY first; PSA sample second:

Thank you! And thanks to everyone who has commented here. Good opinions and info, just as I was seeking.

Looks to me like someone may have modeled after this 2004 Topps Tribute cut signature card, which is pretty suspect in itself.

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/f...0NFT/keefe.jpg

Wow!
 

That is very interesting. I wish there was someone on the board who could speak to this more eloquently.

If one assumes the PSA example is correct (the PSA site says simply it is an 1885 example, but it looks like a list, so who knows if it wasn't written by someone else [http://www.psaautographfacts.com/Aut...timothy-keefe]) the ebay and Topps examples do look very much alike to the untrained eye with the split base and the larger loop on the cap of the T.

$3 bill?

Card has been removed. I don't know if this happens with unsigned cards, but it happens that things being sold as authentic autos disappear from ebay quite often.