Help with photo identification - Honus Wagner ?

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Posted By: CoreyRS.hanus

Photo ID is an art as much as a science. Often times it is not black or white whether the image depicts a particular player, but instead a shade of gray. How far toward black that shade of gray becomes depends on the extent of corroborating evidence (e.g., provenance, positive ID of other player(s) in the image who was (were) known to be on the same team as the player at issue, photo process used is consistent with the period the photo is to date from, image came with other items of player at issue). In the case at hand, absent reliable proof the image came from Wagner's estate, I think anybody buying the image believing it depicts Wagner is taking one heck of a leap of faith. Yes, there are resemblences to Wagner. But for me to believe it is him based on resemblence alone, it really has to scream out that it is him. And with this image I don't get that impression. As to the prospective consignor's representation that it originated from a Wagner estate sale, without proof that statement adds little. The person obviously wants it to be Wagner and what better way to convince others it is than to say it originated from his estate.