Submitting a high profile card to PSA

[cmcclelland]

So, I am posting this so that others can learn from my mistake. I am not trying to say by posting this that BVG is a bad grading service. I am sure it is possible that similar types of issues are out there with cards in both PSA and SGC holders, but this is just meant to educate everyone and hopefully keep everyone on their toes to look closely at what you are buying even when it's in a holder.

With that disclaimer, here is my story. I purchased a 1967 Topps Seaver rookie in a BVG 7.5 holder on ebay in January of this year. I cracked it out and sent it in to PSA for a couple of reasons. First, I would rather have the card in a PSA holder because the value in the marketplace at the same grade level is higher. Second, I thought it had a very good chance of getting a higher grade than 7.5 because the corners looked razor sharp to me and it was very nicely centered. There were really no other issues that I could see holding it back from an 8, or even possibly an 8.5 or 9.

PSA rejected it as questionable authenticity. I was initially shocked, but then when I looked closer and compared it to other 1967 cards, it was obvious. The easiest way to tell is by looking at the back. The green and white colors are vivid and bright, while the real 1967's have a more muted / faded tone to the colors on the back. The card stock itself and the gloss / finish are actually very similar to a real 1967, but the colors on the back make it clear that it is counterfeit. I ended up sending it to SGC also, just to see how they would grade it, and they also rejected it as not authentic.

Now, this is all really on me because if I had looked closely I could have seen even from the pictures on ebay that it was different than other 1967's. Honestly, at the time, I had not handled any 1967's for a while, and therefore wasn't tuned in enough to spot it. However, I think most of us probably just assume that when the card is in the holder (PSA, SGC, or BVG), it is legit. And I think that 99.9% of the time that is true. I am sharing this just so that everyone remembers that stuff like this can happen.

I have posted pics below.