Fake Signed T206 Cards (Too Many to List in the Title, See First Post for List)

[pokerplyr80]

Is there no way to tell the difference from ink that's been on a card for 30-50 years, or more, and a card that's been signed in the last 5 or 10?

[swarmee]

Originally Posted by pokerplyr80

Is there no way to tell the difference from ink that's been on a card for 30-50 years, or more, and a card that's been signed in the last 5 or 10?

There is, but if it's your card, are you willing to have them take a piece of the signature off the card to run it through a mass spectrometer? I'm not sure there is a non-invasive way to test it.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by swarmee

There is, but if it's your card, are you willing to have them take a piece of the signature off the card to run it through a mass spectrometer? I'm not sure there is a non-invasive way to test it.

There are non- invasive spectrograph machines. Mostly used for metals. They will give an accurate reading of the elements in the ink, but then you need to know what inks were made of in the past and what they're made of now. Some ink formulas have probably remained unchanged since the 70's.


Those machines are slowly becoming used for stamps, and a few of the things that everyone "knew" have been proven wrong. Like the brown inks for the 1847 stamps were "known" to be pigmented with rust. Except the recent spectrograph showed exactly 0% iron.....

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by pokerplyr80

Is there no way to tell the difference from ink that's been on a card for 30-50 years, or more, and a card that's been signed in the last 5 or 10?

This is precisely the point. There is a way to tell, or there should be - based on the TPG's passing themselves off as "experts." The expertise is the fraud. Just like when David Hall's defense of PSA giving the Gretzky Wagner an 8 was "It doesn't look trimmed to me." What? That's Joe Blow the ripoff guy at your LCS's line, not what you would expect to hear from a supposed "expert" in his field. Well David - what about the cardboard's specific qualities lead you to believe it was not trimmed? What do your years of study of different paper fibers and their aging properties tell you? It's much the same with autograph authentication. The fact of the matter is, while nominally grading of any type (authentication, 1-10, autos...) is "helpful" when buying cards sight unseen, none of it is anywhere near an exact science, and what is far too often overlooked was the hype and marketing drive which led to a company like PSA being able to grow to the size that it is. I think the well-known parties involved in this latest thing w/ the T206's should all have to pay a hefty price in terms of their reputations.

[ullmandds]

Originally Posted by jchcollins

This is precisely the point. There is a way to tell, or there should be - based on the TPG's passing themselves off as "experts." The expertise is the fraud. Just like when David Hall's defense of PSA giving the Gretzky Wagner an 8 was "It doesn't look trimmed to me." What? That's Joe Blow the ripoff guy at your LCS's line, not what you would expect to hear from a supposed "expert" in his field. Well David - what about the cardboard's specific qualities lead you to believe it was not trimmed? What do your years of study of different paper fibers and their aging properties tell you? It's much the same with autograph authentication. The fact of the matter is, while nominally grading of any type (authentication, 1-10, autos...) is "helpful" when buying cards sight unseen, none of it is anywhere near an exact science, and what is far too often overlooked was the hype and marketing drive which led to a company like PSA being able to grow to the size that it is. I think the well-known parties involved in this latest thing w/ the T206's should all have to pay a hefty price in terms of their reputations.

This is a great point...what "expertise" does PSA even offer to justify the prices their graded cards command? Not much from what I see. Perhaps 60 minutes or halls of shame should investigate this!

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

This is a great point...what "expertise" does PSA even offer to justify the prices their graded cards command? Not much from what I see. Perhaps 60 minutes or halls of shame should investigate this!

All that the vast majority of collectors care about is did their card get the grade they were after, does this high-grade card that they just spent a lot of money on "fit" the grade it was assigned once in-hand, was their auto deemed authentic, etc. etc. This is because (in PSA's example...) despite the boner with the first card they ever graded (the Wagner) - they ARE recognized as an industry leader and something that you can more or less hang your hat on. I'm just as guilty as the rest of you, I sleep way better at night knowing that whatever card is on it's way to me from eBay land was graded PSA X and there is a high chance it will be a good fit in my collection, that I didn't overspend on it, and not something with a hidden crease, hard to detect doctoring, or some other undisclosed flaw. But you are right, nobody ever asks the question who is doing the grading, what is their training and experience? Is it sports collectables experts who know a lot about cards and the common types of altering and damage? Or some college kids on summer vacation who can be shown a basic scale and be more or less "trained" to do the job in a day or so? Don't misread - I don't think it HAS to be someone with a Ph.D. in paper conservancey, or someone who knew the precise patterns of how paper cutters worked in the American Tobacco factories in Virginia at the turn of the last century. But it is true that at least on some level - starting in the early days of PSA and continuing up until now - they bill themselves as "experts" and generally get by with that without incurring much scrutiny. Today, someone like David Hall or Joe Orlando can look at you with as straight face and say, "Well, we are the experts becacuse we have graded 90 zillion cards since 1996..." That may be true. But they also make plenty of mistakes and nobody seems to care - why, what made you guys "experts" when you had not yet graded a single card? It's a fair question. Collectors Universe I believe came later; Mr. Hall had been in the business of grading coins. Now suddenly they are experts in 100 year old pieces of cardboard? Ok, there may be stranger things in the world - but the point is that nobody asks the question.

A random aside that doesn't really fit in anywhere else - what has always intrigued me is comic book grading. How do you become an expert at THAT? In theory it's similar to cards, but man how many pages are in one comic book? If you take some of the hysteria / extreme measures that are starting to be applied to sports card grading, how long would it take to do that with an entire comic book? Um, we'll have this back to you next year. Wait...is PSA already in this business? ;-)

[sushihotwings]

Hoping to see identifying information soon of the fraudster such as an EBay iD,name, address etc. Would hate to see new victims with ongoing forgeries while waiting for a name. Releasing this information in fact would help others to identify potential fakes in their collections bolstering a prosecution case while allowing them also to take action sooner in particular with EBay, PayPal return deadlines ticking. I would be very surprised if the scope was limited to T206 cards. I don’t really see how withholding this information would be beneficial unless he/she is an international flight risk.

David L@mont

[Exhibitman]

It isn't helpful and you make a very good point about anyone who was victimized having a window to dispute credit card charges or paypal payments.

[atx840]

Different situation but when researching the "thought" to be fake Jennings (left) signature, I found the example on the right sold as a common without mention of a signature.

Possibly someone was testing a few signature variants.

[TanksAndSpartans]

Originally Posted by jchcollins

Or some college kids on summer vacation who can be shown a basic scale and be more or less "trained" to do the job in a day or so?

I never noticed a "meet the team" link on any TPG company's website. I don't think it should be a secret who the graders are either. I suspect/hope the same person isn't grading T206s and shiny modern cards from last year - you'd think there could be a little bio with what their specialties are, yrs of experience, etc..

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by TanksAndSpartans

I never noticed a "meet the team" link on any TPG company's website. I don't think it should be a secret who the graders are either. I suspect/hope the same person isn't grading T206s and shiny modern cards from last year - you'd think there could be a little bio with what their specialties are, yrs of experience, etc..

It's harder to bribe someone if you don't know who they are.

[conor912]

Originally Posted by TanksAndSpartans

I never noticed a "meet the team" link on any TPG company's website. I don't think it should be a secret who the graders are either. I suspect/hope the same person isn't grading T206s and shiny modern cards from last year - you'd think there could be a little bio with what their specialties are, yrs of experience, etc..

I used to be a fine dining chef and when we had VIPs in the dining room I would make their dishes and walk them out to the table and present them myself. No server (middle man) or cloak to hide behind. I found it held me to a higher standard when I had to look someone in the eye and say "I made this for you". Maybe it's time for flips to have the name of the grader on them. A little personal responsibility goes a long way.

[Leon]

I spoke with someone again today, who has been in touch with authorities. As of now there really isn't any new news and the last thing said is that it is prefered not to be made public yet. That is the last word I got and that is what I am going with for now. I know some folks want tar and feather but I always prefer to do what authorities ask.