Photo-Matching

[benjulmag]

Originally Posted by Mark17

Not nearly as easy to do as you suggest, for vintage flannels. Where do you find supplies of 80 year old flannel and thread?

I never said it was easy to do. I said only that for a HOF vintage jersey worth millions, there are those out there with the expertise and financial incentive to make replicas that cannot be shown to be fake by the unaided eye. Supplies of 80-year-old thread and flannel are out there. And, no disrespect intended, but I do not believe any expert is infallible. I vividly remember the Halper sale and in the worst way wanting to find one 19th jersey I was comfortable was real. I remember talking to a very renowned authenticator about a particular jersey, which this person assured me it was authentic. I asked him pointed questions about aspects of it that did not seem to me to add up. The end response was, "I just know it is real." Turns out it wasn't.

My expertise is not in game-used jerseys but in other areas of memorabilia. And I have been beat. To this day I marvel at the skill and knowledge required to make the replicas and wonder who had the skill/knowledge to do it.

BTW, doesn't it strike one as strange that the vintage jerseys that show up just happen to be of HOFers? And how many confirmed exemplars are there of such jerseys?

My bottom line -- photo-matching in and of itself is not enough to conclude a multi-million dollar HOF game-used jersey is genuine.