Posted By:
davidcyclehttp://www.cycleback.com/baseballcards
The simple answer is, if the owners think it's real, they should get it authenticated by PSA or SGC or contact a major auction house like Mastro Auctions, Robert Edward Auctions or Sotheby's. That simple. Few collectors in the hobby would even consider paying $100,000 or more a Wagner not slabbed by PSA, SGC or GAI, and none of the big time auction houses even offer ungraded Wagners. What the newspaper reporter may not have realized is that, while there are perhaps 70 genuine Wagners and these are financially valuable, there are perhaps 30,000 reprints and fakes that are worth perhaps 20 cents each. Even if you don't have a clue how to judge the authenticity of the card, you can figure out on your calculator the mathematical odds that a randomly pictured ungraded Wagner is genuine and worth riches(70 divided by 30,000). This should explain why the above mentioned collectors don't ever consider writing a $100,000+ on all those ungraded Wagners on eBay and 'discovered' in houses and attics and flea markets by people they've never met. When a collector sees 500 Wagners offered for sale in a month when he knows there are fewer than 100 Wagners in existence, you can see why the collector gets a jaded eye to each newly 'discovered' Wagner being offered for sale ungraded and unauthenticated. A particular sale may be flashy new stuff to a newspaper reporter who doesn't collect and is like a newborn baby to the subject, but the collectors in the hobby (the folks who buy the Wagners, realize) saw the other 499 offered before it, each accompanied by a story no better or worse than the one the reporter fixates on-- discovered in attic, grandpa's safety deposit box, given to by great uncle, found in wall, etc. In fact, some collectors will wonder why a reporter picked for story a particular ungraded Wagner sale, when there were the 499 others similar to it. Did the reporter pull a piece of paper from a hat, throw a dart?