Do You Like the Provenance on the Flip?

[Rhotchkiss]

We all know the "Black Swamp Find" and have seen it on flips; I have one card (a T206 Matty Dark Cap) that states "Endicott Find" on the flip and I have seen others; there is of course the "Copeland Collection"; and Lelands currently has a bunch of cards from the "Charles Bray Collection". I really like knowing who owned cards before I did, especially when the card is old and rare, but I don't know how I feel about it being stated on the flip. I have never paid more (or less) for a card because the provenance is stated right there on the flip, although maybe I would if it was the "Gretzky" Wagner or the "Nun's" or "Jumbo" Wagner.

Anyway, I am just looking at these cards in Lelands advertised as being from the Charles Bray Collection, and I dont know what I think or if I care.

What do you think about provenance on the flip (not just Charles Bray)?

[Peter_Spaeth]

I don't care for it.

[pokerplyr80]

The only ones I've seen that I considered paying more for were the ones that said owned by Mantle. That would have been cool to own a card that was in his collection. Looking back I should have pulled the trigger on one.

[Peter_Spaeth]

With due respect to Bill, I would just as soon not...

[Leon]

I won't pay much more but maybe just a little for known provenance. Knowing it came from a long ago collector means it has had fewer hands to alter it along the way. That doesn't mean all of these old collection cards are better, but there is a less likely chance they have been messed with, imo. Overall, I am kind of neutral.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Leon

I won't pay much more but maybe just a little for known provenance. Knowing it came from a long ago collector means it has had fewer hands to alter it along the way. That doesn't mean all of these old collection cards are better, but there is a less likely chance they have been messed with, imo. Overall, I am kind of neutral.

I wouldn't trust certain auction houses not to have altered certain collections they submitted. Not saying it happened, just saying my trust level is not high.

[steve B]

I general I think it's cool, but I don't own any and probably wouldn't pay much premium if any.

It's pretty common in my other hobbies to list any important collections an item has been in. Some matter more than others.

[insidethewrapper]

I thought grading was suppose to be anonymous ! Do the graders know when they grade who submitted the cards or is the label done without their knowledge ?

[drcy]

Obviously depends on the significance of the name, but I think the provenance on the label is nice and interesting. No harm, no foul.

[drcy]

Originally Posted by insidethewrapper

I thought grading was suppose to be anonymous ! Do the graders know when they grade who submitted the cards or is the label done without their knowledge ?

I assume anonymous applies to the person who submitted the card for grading.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I wouldn't trust certain auction houses not to have altered certain collections they submitted. Not saying it happened, just saying my trust level is not high.

I also have very little trust in some of the same ones you do, though the main culprits are out of business now.
But there are circumstances where I think the likelihood of funny business is minimal...such as the Skydash collection and some others. I have had a few fairly original finds and they are cool. The Trucker Boy find stands out. All of those were very original cards. I think a few were even trimmed or hand cut back when they were collected a hundred years ago, but they were all very original as collected by a kid back when they were distributed. That provenance would have been sort of neat on the label, in retrospect. At least I would have liked it and known there wasn't any monkey business going on. This Arrelanes below boomeranged back to me and came from that collection.

[kailes2872]

The one that got away for me will always be Lionel Carter’s DeLong set. It was for sale a couple of years ago and I didn’t pull the trigger. Have regretted it ever since as they were all labeled as such in the set. The fact that it was the first set that he collected - out of the packs was so cool as he became such a collecting legend and held to high ideals for the hobby. I remember when someone asked him what he was going to do with all the money when he sold and he said something to the effect of “i’d Rather have the cards” was such a genuine statement and I wish I could have met and learned from him.

It was SGC vs PSA so that was a bummer but it looked fantastic.

[Jay Wolt]

Usually I like the pedigreed flip for cards from the players themselves like the Stengel & Mantle owned cards.
Also like the pioneer collectors like Lionel Carter & Frank Nagy.

The last card scanned, "The Collectors Collection" I'm not a fan.

[conor912]

I crack everything out do it doesn't matter to me. That said, if I was a slabby, I wouldn't mind "once owned by Mantle" or the "2018 National" that the '55B pack break got...but the ones attributing to a particular collection/collector are pretty vein.

[barrysloate]

No one is suggesting you should pay more for a card from a famous collection, it's simply information available for you to use as you choose. I know one serious collector who is so concerned with altered cards finding their way into holders that he prefers to purchase cards that originate from oldtime collections. It doesn't guarantee anything but it gives him an added level of confidence.

But as Jay said, there must be some kind of near certainty of where a card originated or the labels really lose their significance.