Posted By:
RobIf they can't or won't authenicate the article they appraise.
There was a seller on Ebay recently who had an "online" appraisal of supposed autographs of Kid Nichols and High Duffy. The signatures were clearly done by the same hand, and the date on the paper was after both Nichols and Duffy had died. Yet the appraiser gave a value as though they were genuine. Far as I'm concerned, the appraiser didn't even look at the picture. The online appraisal costs $10, but I'd expect the appraiser to at least look at the picture to comment on the appearance.
Authenicating a card through PSA or SGC can be as low as $5, and you get the card in a sealed container for that price. PSA's top tier grading price is what, $50? In the case of that Conelley fellow, I'm betting he charged as much or more for his services, so I'd expect someone to know what 100 year old paper/ lithography looks like.
As for the guys who own that Wagner card, seems like they could view 1000 or so real T206's to know they don't have the real thing. I'm sure they have dozens of people laugh at them, probably where they got the idea the experts are racists. But even if they had a real T206 Wagner, it's worth perhaps a 1/3 to 1/2 of that $850K appraised value, based on readily available information. So the appraisal itself is nonsense.
This all makes for entertaining reading, could make a good chapter in a book on fake collectibles.