Remove ink from cards?

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Posted By: runrickey

I have a lot of old football cards from the 60's that are worth a lot and in amazing condition. Problem is, my Grandfather wrote his intials on the back of each card.
Is there any safe way to remove the ink? Is it better to try this or just have them graded as is? How do they grade with something like that?
He used a regular pen, and just wrote the two little letters on the back.
Thank you, any help would be great.

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Posted By: Ryan Christoff

If your grandfather wrote his initials on them they are neither worth a lot, nor in amazing condition.

-Ryan

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Posted By: Dave

Nope....and not worth the money to get graded either IMO

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Posted By: mark

If you go to the search bar and type in REMOVE INK a list of Old Threads will come up and answer your question.


Edited to say: Click on search posts link.

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Posted By: Mark Burke

I'll take the worthless Nagurski rookie card......with the ink on the back.

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Posted By: dennis

if they are near mint cards w/ink they would (maybe) grade ex 5 with a mark qualifier from psa. good with sbc. 2.5 good+ with gai. best i would suggest is send the most valuable cards to PSA and see how they do. unfortuantely ink on the back really damages a cards value and removal is always detectable.

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Posted By: Frank Wakefield

Hey Runrickey,

I appologize for "these guys" an include myself in there with them.

Most folks here hold "new" stuff in low regards. 1960s stuff is new, around here.

Many of these folks seek out perfect, unblemished cards. A mark on the back is too much.

Many of these guys have no tollerance for any alteration or manipulation of the card, so removing anything is unacceptable.

Many, but not all, of these guys only desire graded cards, and if a marked card won't grade, they have little use for it.


Realistically, I'd think for you the cards are worth more to you if your Grand Dad made notations on them. I don't mind cards with marks, and I'm not a fan of graded cards. If you're going to sell them you might be better off to save your grading fees and disclose the marks. Maybe you can find a buyer who is ok with them.

Good luck with it all.

Frank.

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Posted By: JK

Sorry Frank - but I think that most of your post is entirely wrong. You are correct that new stuff is held in low regard - particularly new football as this is a baseball card board. That's really not relevant to the question though and the question was honestly and fairly answered.

What I disagree with is your claim that "many" on this board:

"seek out perfect, unblemished cards. A mark on the back is too much."

"have no tollerance for any alteration or manipulation of the card, so removing anything is unacceptable."

"desire graded cards, and if a marked card won't grade, they have little use for it."

If there is one thing I think is fair to say from many of the recent posts on this topic, its that most on this board (ie the majority) do not seek out unblemished cards and find a mark to be too much and do have a tolerance for minor things like removing a pencil mark.

As for your comment on graded cards - yes, most prefer graded. The second part of your statement is patently untrue unless, by marked, you mean recolored.

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Posted By: davidcycleback

It's unlikely you will be able to remove the ink so as it's invisible to PSA, so I'd not worry about the issue.

I think it's great Gramps monogramed his cards, and don't even see a need to remove his writing. If money's the only reason to alter a card, in my opinion that means it shouldn't be altered.

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Posted By: Frank Wakefield

JK,

I do respect your views... I even wish you were correct on some of it, and that I was wrong. But I really do think a lot of the folks on here are obsessed with perfect graded OLD cards, and can't tolerate anything else. I kinda like an old card with slightly rounded corners, maybe even a tiny pin-hole.

You are correct, I'm wrong, about color being added instead of marked. Thanks for that correction.

And why are all of these little red lines appearing under everything I type?


Frank.

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Posted By: Dylan

Also needed to be considered is while i purchase pre world war 1 cards all the time in the VG and even GD range, when i have purchased cards from the 1960's my tolerence for condition is much much tougher. These cards are much easier to find in higher grades, i have no reason to settle for a lower graded example.

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Posted By: davidcycleback

I was once doing tests on how to identify alterations to cards. One test involved soaking
the cards in various liquids, from tap water to bleach. At the top of the each card I wrote
in pen the substance it was being soaked in. When I came back a while later, the writing on
one of the cards had disappeared-- completely gone. At first, I thought I had forgotten to label
the card, but realized what had happened. I had unintentionally discovered a liquid to
remove the ink from cards. The writing wasn't even submerged in the liquid. The sneaky liquid
wicked up the card.