PSA photo authentication - a suggestion

[drcy]

If you apply trading card standards to everything, a Pablo Picasso signed original lithograph grades Fair or Poor because it has writing on the front. Same with a Babe Ruth signed photo. Same with a Charles Conlon where Conlon wrote a caption on the back and stamped the date.

A card collector at the Louvre:
"How can the Mona Lisa grade an ExMt? It's got paint all over the front. And someone scribbled in the corner."
"Uh, that scribbling is Da Vinci's signature."
"Still, according to my Beckett Baseball Card Monthly, it can't grade higher than VgEx with two dinged corners. With two dinged corners, I'll give you $25 for it, but only if that includes shipping. Is there a refractor version? I'd pay $35 for that."
"Sir, we must please ask that you leave the museum. And, even better, the country."
"Okay, fine. Is Denny's anywhere around here?"

A PSA card collector after a date:
"Oh man, I think she's the one. Her gloss appears original and her corners untouched."
"Don't fool yourself. Rumor around town is she's a double print and had gum stains removed."

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by drcy

If you apply trading card standards to everything, a Pablo Picasso signed original lithograph grades Fair or Poor because it has writing on the front. Same with a Babe Ruth signed photo. Same with a Charles Conlon where Conlon wrote a caption on the back and stamped the date.

A card collector at the Louvre:
"How can the Mona Lisa grade an ExMt? It's got paint all over the front. And someone scribbled in the corner."
"Uh, that scribbling is Da Vinci's signature."
"Still, according to my Beckett Baseball Card Monthly, it can't grade higher than VgEx with two dinged corners. With two dinged corners, I'll give you $25 for it, but only if that includes shipping. Is there a refractor version? I'd pay $35 for that."
"Sir, we must please ask that you leave the museum. And, even better, the country."
"Okay, fine. Is Denny's anywhere around here?"

A PSA card collector after a date:
"Oh man, I think she's the one. Her gloss appears original and her corners untouched."
"Don't fool yourself. Rumor around town is she's a double print and had gum stains removed."

David, my comments were related to the fact that PSA/DNA is slabbing both photos and cards. To my knowledge, they are not slabbing Picassos.