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Originally Posted by benjulmag
I'm talking about something completely different, at least in the instance of the really skilled forger. He/she would make the fake from scratch, not using some common game used jersey but creating something 100% new, being certain to use fabrics and materials commercially available at the purported time of manufacture. He/she will have as much expertise in game-worn HOF jerseys as the most experienced authenticators, and will be certain to have every known feature be a perfect (at least to the unaided eye) match. That IMO is how skilled some forgers are. And with a potential jackpot in the millions waiting at the other end if they pull it off, they are fully incentivized to spend the time and money to do it.
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Not nearly as easy to do as you suggest, for vintage flannels. Where do you find supplies of 80 year old flannel and thread? For jerseys with patches, how would someone make one of those, using period materials, and have it match exemplars down to the smallest detail? Then there are all the other various taggings: manufacturer, year/set tag, size, name embroidered in collar or tail, etc.
Fading is also an indicator, especially on grey (road) jerseys. Looking at the back of a shirt, there will not be any fading behind the numbers on back, but should be some fading everywhere else. That indicates the numbers have been on the shirt a long time while the shirt was in use in sunlight.
Different teams used different types of stitching. For example, 1960's Dodgers used a straight line stitch. Other teams used a shark tooth stitch, some wider, narrower, or tighter. Often, patches were stitched differently than the team logo or numbers.
If you look at the analysis a top-line jersey authenticator does, like Dave Grob, you'll be amazed how many specific details he examines against known, catalogued exemplars. Then there is the light table evaluation to see if there are any stitch patterns that might indicate, for example, a number change. There is the black light examination, to determine whether a name in collar tag, or sleeve patch, has been there all these many years, or was recently attached.
Could it be done? Sure. Art forgers have been copying the masters for centuries. Successfully forge a Rembrandt and you've made multiple millions. But unless the jersey was worth huge dollars, the attempt would not likely be worth it, and even then, I'd bet on the skilled authenticator to be able to raise red flags if a supposed vintage jersey wasn't authentic.