[Roofman4]

In my travels to auctions, yard sales, estate sales etc...I recently bought a box lot of cards for 6 bucks. Once I went through the lot, I found several cards that immediately raised a red flag. Way down in the bottom of the box were several high profile Topps rookie cards in rigid holders. A 1954 Aaron and 1955 Koufax and Clemente. Also in the box was a 1951 Bowman Mantle. Being the ever alert pessimist, my thought was "too good to be true". No one with any clue would have these in this box of mid grade commons. Upon closer inspection, the Mantle and the Clemente cards had an SGC label and comment card attached identifying the cards as "COU" - counterfeit.

Obviously, someone tried to have them graded thinking they were real. After reading as much as possible on how to identify fakes/counterfeits...having known fakes in hand has proven extremely valuable with my card knowledge. I feel confident I can attend the Chantilly, VA show in Oct and work on my collection without fear of getting a fake.