New Discovery - The super rare N-300 Mayo Mini

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Posted By: Bruce Babcock

A forerunner of the Topps 1975 Mini cards by 80 years, the Mayo folks test marketed a mini version of their popular tobacco cards in 1895. My grandfather owned one of these rare gems and I recently discovered it in a pocket of the suit he was buried in. I'm selling it now to raise money for my sister's tatto removal surgery. I don't know anything about cards but it has been graded 5-Excellent by a professional grading company. Acceptable forms of payment - gold bullion, uncut diammonds only - NO PAYPAL!!! BIN $1,000.000.00 ebay handle - cutshort@nobody'sperfect.net



It's interesting that the folks who graded this card identified it as a Mayo when the advertising that MAKES it a Mayo has been removed. It's also interesting that the same folks who can detect "evidence of trimming" in cards that appear to measure perfectly, and who can reject cards as "altered" for seemingly imperceptable tampering, and who can parse the distinction between an "9" and a "10," failed to notice that this card measures about 15% short. Apparently this is within acceptable tolerances for the issue. It's too bad that there are no reference books in the hobby which contain photos and measurements of the various issues. Oh, wait. There ARE such books. Lot's of them. I guess there is more to a reference book than simply owning it. One must actually OPEN it to find it useful.

I saved this scan from some long forgotten auction some time ago. It's one of my personal favorites of the grading misadventures I've seen. Maybe you've seen it before but I couldn't resist. It's easy (and fun) to pick on the grading companies but they tend to bring it on themselves.

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Posted By: Elliot

When I plugged the cert # into the PSA database...

According to the PSA Certification Database, certification number 40255838 is defined as the following:

CARD INFORMATION
Year: 2003
Brand: ULTIMATE COLL.
Player: ANDRE JOHNSON
Variety: N/A
Grade: 10

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Posted By: DD

The cert # is 402255638. According to PSA, it was not holdered.

Year: 1895
Brand: N300 MAYO'S
Player: BILL SHINDLE
Variety:N/A
Grade: Not Holdered, Evidence of Trimming

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Posted By: Peter Thomas

Elliot I think the last 3 numbers are 638

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Posted By: Jay Miller

Was the holder tampered with or is PSA trying to rewrite history?

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Posted By: qualitycards.com

I suspect that PSA was informed of the auction and bought the card to take it out of circulation. It was indeed a screw-up when slabbed, so based on the cert #, it no longer is slabbed.

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Posted By: Bryan

I have heard of people breaking open PSA graded cards and replacing the cards with others of a lower grade to sell. Is this possible? Would this not explain in some detail how certain cards make into the ebay market with such errors? I have never tried to open a PSA case so I don't know if it is even possible to do this, but I thought that I have heard that it has been done. I think that even PSA wouldn't grade this one. I know a ton of people like to look for these types of things to explain why grading companies should be killed - but even this one I think looks to be something tampered with by someone other than PSA. Just curious.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

I don't know the story on this card, but I suspect it was a mess-up that PSA bought back and deleted, rather than a switched card. The holder is for a small card but the registered card listed on the PSA site is a standard sized card, so it could not have fit into the case shown in the post. More importantly, PSA has been known to slab N cards with advertising removed. An infamous incident ca. 2002 was an N172 without the ad that was slabbed by PSA. Lew Lipset offered it in one of his auctions, noting for the public that the card was trimmed and that PSA had slabbed a blatantly trimmed card. As far as opening goes, PSA cases have always been the flimsiest and easiest to open. A few twists of a screwdriver is all it takes.

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Posted By: Bryan

That you buy the card and not the grade That one sure can't be expressed enough.

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Posted By: bcornell

Here is the original VBC thread on this card:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/message?forumid=153652&messageid=1067143574

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Posted By: Joe P.

I was about to ask you for the size of the suit.

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Posted By: Julie

Really explitive deleted...they STILL didn't know what-a-Mayo-looks-like???

Somebody in the earlier thread (cited above) said--"that makes them no better than PRO." They are WORSE than PRO, because PRO is the laughingstock of the hobby, while PSA is still respected and essential to a lot of people who believe in them, like, like,,, OH, NEVER MIND!

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Posted By: Bruce Babcock

I hadn't realized that the board had discussed this card last year, before my time as a member. Still, I amused myself for a while. I was probably inspired by the discovery of the T206 Red Portrait Bender discussed in a recent thread.

I will entertain offers on the suit my grandfather was buried in, however. It looks a lot like the one Shindle is wearing on the card. A 38 long, dark blue, with a COA from PSA/DNA . . .

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Posted By: Joe P.

Too small.
Must have been trimmed.
Slab it anyway.
Let's see what grade we get.

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Posted By: Jerry Spillman

The Mayo card pictured above from last year is just one of many card images I have kept of online sales of professionally graded cards that, in my opinion, are: graded fakes, graded trimmed cards, labeling errors, misidentified cards, inaccurate authentication, etc.

Some months ago, just as a general warning of caution to collectors, I submitted an article, pictures included, on this subject for publication.

However, I was advised that the First Amendment or not, to see a lawyer first and that suing can be done even without merit. I cancelled.

Thanks for advise - Adam, Lew, Tom.

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Posted By: dan mckee

You are all missing the point here, this is graded properly, this is the N300, the N1300 is has the ad at the bottom and is the cabinet version like the old judges. PSA is correct here, all of the manuals published on cards are wrong.

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Posted By: Thomas Ernest

Does anyone remember the person web address for this N-300 Mayo card that was listed on ebay? If so please email me with there web address.

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Posted By: Darren J. Duet

Counterfeit holders are in circulation. PSA & SGC holders are being duplicated and being given random #'s.

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Posted By: Julie