Posted By:
JeffEverything else aside, if you/this guy were to get the endorsement of one of the 3 big grading companies, then the card will automatically sell for...what...SEVERAL HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS MORE??!!
That's where it ends for me. I understand not wanting to let a card of such (possible, though improbable) value out of my sight...I get that. BUT if I can get an extra $400,000 for the card by doing so for only a couple of minutes, and it will be in the hands of handling experts who've graded other Wagner's before, you had better believe I'm gonna take the extra several hundred thousand dollars.
Bottom line, anyone willing to throw away HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS for not letting a recognized expert look at the card is either: crazy, too rich already (and stupid), just plain stupid, or afraid of what the result will be. I think we have the latter here. Oh, and I saw the credentials of your experts, and though I respect the knowledge that years in the field will bring someone, a "few semesters of community college" is not the training that I see as expert.
And leave race out of it. That's got nothing to do with it. I once posted a card on this board checking for authenticity (in my early collecting days). I was laughed at and made fun of for it. The card was a reprint, and I just didn't know it because I was just starting out.
And though I didn't at all appreciate people poking fun at me for being a beginner, the bottom line is that they were right....it was a fake. People not in the know will ALWAYS take a beating from those who do, whether it's card collecting or something else. It isn't a matter of race at all.