It's an enormous advantage to be knowledgeable about autographs. I will admit that I have picked up some early Jeter autographs for a great price because I know exactly what to look for. But when it comes to autographs I always look at the autograph FIRST. I don't care who certed it or who produced it; I look at the autograph first. I wonder how many Jeter collectors own the "1998 Topps Co-Signers" autograph cards that contain the autographs of Derek Jeter/Scott Rolen or the card that contains the Derek Jeter/Eric Karros autographs. Most collectors don't realize that a number of the "Masters (the unsigned ones)" of those cards were backdoored and then the autographs of Jeter, Rolen and Karros were forged on those cards. Those cards have the Topps "Certified Autograph Issue" stamped on them. To collectors who don't know autographs they will just assume they have a Jeter/Rolen or Jeter/Karros autograph card because it came from Topps. But they are obvious forgeries. Below is a photo of the Jeter/Rolen forgeries on one of those masters.
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