'Altered' vs 'Authentic' - confused

[mrvster]

this is what I have been complaining about for a long long time!

wtf.....why can't they simply send a report with the card??? or label the flip correctly???????

"AUTH" is supposedly just trimmed cards, or missing a lot of real estate...

"ALTERED"- is anything "done" to the card like , add material, coloring, glue, extra "paper" ect WHICH I HATE HATE BEING DONE TO A CARD! any manipulation or foreign added "stuff" makes it altered....

I will buy a "trimmed card" but will not buy an "altered" card....

I had this problem with 2 higher profile cards that I was eyeing up- one is psa and one is sgc.....one card looks like it had "coloring" added to a significant wrinkle on the front, BUT WAS JUST GRADED " AUTH" !!!!!!!! UGH!!the other just graded as "AUTH" also, but just appears to be trimmed.....the owner of both cards was confused himself....

this is the problem- list what is wrong on the backside of the flip like a bvg report on corners, edges, ect


like- COLOR ADDED/ ERASURE/ PAPER ADDED/ ECT ECT

so simple!!!!!! I guess these grading companies like to be vague , this way they can cop out and just generally state "auth" or "altered" with rarely an explaination



soooooooooo stupid


so why not put the correct concern on the flip?????????!!!!!

[JollyElm]

In the last group sub, I sent this Mantle in. Wasn't expecting a high grade or anything by any means, but when it came back as "authentic" I was befuddled. There was no explanation whatsoever...

1965mantle350psa.jpg

Someone theorized that perhaps some sort of factory miscut led to that particular grade, but who knows? No matter what the reason is for the label, the moment anyone sees the word "authentic," they are going to read it as "altered" or worse.

[Fred]

Originally Posted by mrvster

"AUTH" is supposedly just trimmed cards, or missing a lot of real estate...

"ALTERED"- is anything "done" to the card like , add material, coloring, glue, extra "paper" ect WHICH I HATE HATE BEING DONE TO A CARD! any manipulation or foreign added "stuff" makes it altered....

Technically, I think a trimmed card is an "altered" card because it was "altered" by trimming.

I guess most anything that is AUTH is probably altered in some way. A good example of AUTH could be a skinned OJ. I suppose you could say it was altered because the back is peeled off (by accident or on purpose - does it really matter). The card wasn't trimmed.... just thinned....

Ok, so what is an AUTH card?

There have been threads about just how much alteration should be allowed before it's just a Franken-card. Wasn't there a Wagner T206 that appeared to have the sides trimmed, but after the "alteration" (they called it "restoration") the card had a standard width... that is just crazy... it's not even the same card when that much "alteration" takes place.

[mrvster]

Agree 1000%

please read the wagner restoration thread....

absolute "creation" and "frankencard" a lot of work done to it , more than bruce jenner

[Fred]

Originally Posted by mrvster

Agree 1000%

please read the wagner restoration thread....

absolute "creation" and "frankencard" a lot of work done to it , more than bruce jenner

Don't you mean "Caitlyn"? I had to google that spelling.... sorry but I'm still a little freaked out about it.... I remember the 76 Olympics and Bruce just killing it... No, I'm not a homo-phobe.

[drcy]

AUTH is applied to cards that are altered, in especially poor condition (ala piece missing or burnt) or for the rare especially obscure items where it's difficult to know how to grade them.

Someone can technically submit a perfectly fine card for an AUTH grade and I assume would get it, but this is rarely if ever done. Maybe it would be done with grade poor cards.

The exception to the above paragraph is with autographed cards, in particular autographs on cheapo cards, where all the autograph collector considers important is the authenticity of the autograph and perhaps the card. Many autographed cards are entombed without the card itself graded.

Duly note that, according to my personal grading standards, an altered card grades as poor. I'm talking about restored and trimmed cards, not trying to start a discussion/philosophical debate about how a minor errant pen mark affects numerical grade. If others disagree with that personal definition, that is fine by me. I'm not trying to enact it into hobby law, and can see the argument of AUTH being a special grade (or ungrade?) applied to 'less than poor' cards, if that's how one defines altered cards.

[Rose4HOF]

Looks at the VCP pic of the Ramly Walter Johnson PSA 1.....guess burned cards can get a number grade.