Babe Ruth Barnstorming Poster "Black Lighted"
 

So the attached pictures are of my Ruth barnstorming poster. It appears that a few areas of the poster are actually stuck to the glass so ive never completely removed the piece from the frame. What I did do was carefully remove one side of the frame and snapped a pic of a corner of the poster under blacklight. That picture is taken at an angle but not through any glass. The edge is seen in the picture extends past the glass. The foam behind the poster lights up bright white whereas the poster does not. Any thoughts?

Isn't that kind of bright in person? If it is, then That might not be a good sign......(no pun intended) Hopefully I am incorrect as I am a novice at signs. I have used a blacklight a few times though.

Not much of a glow.

But the edge of the poster doesnt "light up" like the foam board used behind the poster did. What you see really bright in the picture is the modern foam backing and not the poster. Wouldnt that be a good sign :confused:

Strictly and only addressing the black light test picture, that is a good sign. It appears the poster as shown does not have optical brighteners (comparing it to the foam). If it fluoresced as bright as the foam backing, that would prove it modern.

An antique poster would have no optical brighteners. However, lack of optical brighteners doesn't prove it old, as not all paper modern paper has optical brighteners. The lack of optical brighteners just says that that specific quality is consistent with it being old, not proof that it is old.

Antique items can and usually do have some fluorescence (they almost never show up as black under blacklight). It's just that they shouldn't fluoresce as brightly as a modern piece of computer paper or baseball card. That's why you should do the test by comparing it to something modern that fluoresces brightly, such as the foam backing. The poster's fluorescence is clearly quite a bit darker than the foam's. I often use a little shard of computer paper for comparison. Something with optical brighteners is usually obvious, as it very brightly.