Anyone know what these cards are?

[bcbgcbrcb]

Without having them in hand, can we all agree that they are not authentic cards? how about not authentic, original photos?

If there is a possibility that they are not fake but are "real", "real" what?

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by bcbgcbrcb

Without having them in hand, can we all agree that they are not authentic cards? how about not authentic, original photos?

If there is a possibility that they are not fake but are "real", "real" what?

I don't think anyone here ever thought they were 'cards' - not even the OP. As far as original photos, he showed us a scan of one that came with the lot, that appears to have 'silvering'. As stated at least twice now, I'd have to see them in hand at this point. You're apparently going with the percentages and just saying they are 'fake'. As a buyer, I would do the same.

[Hankphenom]

His thread is titled: "Anyone know what these cards are?" What's in the water these days is a lot of skepticism, and rightly so. There's too much money in this stuff not to attract crooks, and we've seen them long since move into cards and autographs big time. Why would photos and other valuable memorabilia be immune? Then there's all this other phony negro league stuff out there that looks to me to be of the same process, so that's the clincher for me. Sure, the ideal is to have them in hand to look at, but honestly if you told me for $10 you'd send these to me and I could keep them, I wouldn't waste the money.

[bcbgcbrcb]

C'mon, Scott, you know better than that, original photos, really?

[71buc]

I really don't have an opinion on the authenticity of the photos. However, the frame is from my father's home town. As a child I remember speaking to my great aunt Rose who lived there about baseball. She was in her mid 70s at the time. She was an avid Pirates fan but never saw them play in person. I asked her if she felt bad about missing out on seeing Clemente in person. She said, "No I saw Josh Gibson." I had no idea who he was. She told me that as a young woman she would travel to neighboring Masury Ohio to watch Games and saw him play there. Her stories were my introduction to the Negro Leagues. She died 20 years ago and took those stories with her. I wish I had recorded her but lacked the foresight at such a young age. She was obviously very progressive and quite a story teller.

Sharon is a small economically depressed town. I have returned there to visit an aunt who lives minutes from the address on that mat. While there I have stumbled upon a Sovereign back Brooklyn Dahlen, a blue version T206 Evers, a beautiful Beckley, and a Variety of vintage Indians items in small nondescript shops. Ironically when I was there last I stopped at a local antique mall and they were auctioning off a panoramic photo of the Homestead Grays. The auction was scheduled for a date after I was to return to Washington. They didn't look to be original despite the auction house guarantee. Had I been there I would have considered bidding simply because my aunt Rose and the way she beamed when telling me those stories. I called my father who is now the same age as aunt Rose when I last spoke to her. I asked him if he recalled the name of the photographer on the mat he said he had no such recollection. But he laughed about the stir Rose must have caused with her family by going to those games.

I found another mat with the same markings on ebay so I doubt it would be terribly hard to remove the original photo contained in this or any other vintage mat and replace it with another photo. http://www.ebay.com/itm/antique-cabi...ht_1490wt_1091

[Ease]

Awesome story Mike!

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by 71buc

I found another mat with the same markings on ebay so I doubt it would be terribly hard to remove the original photo contained in this or any other vintage mat and replace it with another photo. http://www.ebay.com/itm/antique-cabi...ht_1490wt_1091

Great story.

It's almost never hard to glue a fake photo to a real mat...or to glue a real one to a real one, where the two don't belong together.

This is really about whether or not these are real photos, pictures or images cut from a non-card product (book or broadside) (Damn, I'm getting tired of repeating myself - anyone care to star reading so I don't have to?), as opposed to something that was created more recently with the intent to deceive. The latter is probably the case (again, repeating myself for at least the third time ).

Later guys - I've said the same thing too many times in the last two days, and have better things to do than to talk with the wall.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by bcbgcbrcb

C'mon, Scott, you know better than that, original photos, really?

Phil, I really think you are just playing the odds with this one. I can't say it any better than Adam just did.

[bcbgcbrcb]

Well, I don't think a cut-out from a book is a real possibility, assuming that it was not the cover that was cut out, the piece would be way too thick for a book page. So now, we are down to cut out from a "broadside" and possibly authentic. Actually, in order for that to make sense, these would have been cut out from two different broadsides as they are clearly uniforms from two different seasons (for those that don't know, broadsides were produced to promote a specific, upcoming game). How likely is that now?

All we are missing is the word "FAKE" rubber stamped across the photos........

BTW Homestead Grays photos are the most counterfeited in the industry, little coincidence that both of these are Grays ballplayers.