AUTH

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Posted By: robert

Latley I have been seeing the grade "AUTH" on cards by PSA and GAI is this the new classifiaction lower then a "1". In the past I have seen this on autogaphed cards to state that the signature was authentic. In my opinion they are creating a lot of confusion and should start adding a numerical grade to the autographed cards and give the choice to people to send back the previous graded auto material to have them fix this problem. Now it seems that a grade of "AUTH" means that the cards is real but has been tampered with ie, trimmed, enhanced, altered, etc...am I the only one who sees this a a potential problem or am I wrong on my perception of the meaning "AUTH"

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Posted By: tbob

Personally, I like it. A great looking rare pre-war card can be slabbed and protected where the grading company arguably feels it is trimmed (note I say arguably because not all AUTH cards I have seen appear to be altered). I'll give you an example- I have all the 1910 Obak Series of 150 cards slabbed in SGC holders (except one which I still need). 2 of the cards I bought from board members came up "trimmed" but I was still able to get SGC to give them AUTH grades and thus keep the set together and in homogenous holders. Perhaps another grading company might have given them a numerical grade but I wanted to keep the set in the same holders for aesthetic reasons, if nothing else. I just wish SGC, GAI and PSA would recognize that the majority of 1909 Obaks were hand cut and give them AUTH status, but that is another story for another day...

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Posted By: Kevin Cummings

I agree. The last time I had cards graded by SGC I requested that they slab them with "AUTHENTIC" if they failed to make a regular grade. It still makes for a great visual presentation and provides protection for an item that is still valuable.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

Autographed and non-autographed cards.

The Authentic label for autographed cards indicates that the autograph is authentic. With SGC's new set-up, you can ask that the card not be graded but merely that the autograph be authenticated. PSA/DNA too. Since autograph collectorw generally care more about the signature than the card condition, I am fine with that.

I agree that Authentic on unsigned cards can mean any number of things and that it has evolved to be perceived to mean that the card is ungradeable. I had some low grade cards slabbed Authentic over the summer instead of 1; I would not do so now, knowing what I know about how the perception of those labels has evolved. What I would like to see is the grader write on the front of the label any specific defects that make it impossible to grade (trimming, recoloring, etc.) to differentiate altered cards from cards that have been authenticated instead of numerically graded.

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Posted By: identify7

And what grade do they offer when you request an AUTH grading on an authentic card with a phoney autograph?

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Posted By: Lee Behrens

There has been some SGC OJs lately that have been grraded authentic. Explaination on auction was they did not meet size requirement. I still wish they would slab authenticwith qualifiers (trim, size, altered, etc.).

I would just like some nice looking cards in nice holders.

Lee

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Posted By: Julie Vognar

Appearently, they're going to get all my autographs authenticated--I only brought the books into the room by mistake...some nice photos, some HOF placks, some 3x5s. Nothing real old--some cards too. Some I or my son got in person or through the mail from the player; some I bought...who knows how many are authentic? Hope someone does!