PSA: Please Explain "Authentic Altered"

[trdcrdkid]

PSA is not accusing you of altering the card; they're saying that at some point in the past, somebody altered it. This wasn't necessarily done with a malicious intent to deceive; it could have been any number of innocuous things. For example, there's the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle on eBay that I posted a link to in the "Bearded Mickey" thread. PSA graded it "Authentic Altered" because some kid in the distant past drew/scratched a beard on Mickey. There was no intent to deceive anybody or make the card look better; quite the contrary.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/202441317919?ul_noapp=true



Or look at this T206 Cobb that PSA also graded "Authentic Altered". If you look very closely at the top border, you can see that there used to be something written in pencil there, and that somebody subsequently erased that pencil marking, also taking out some of the black border. (It's a lot easier to see if you have the card in hand and look with a magnifying glass.) I'm 99% sure that this erasure is the "alteration" that got the card its grade. Now, it's good to know about that, but I, personally, am not too bothered by it, so I'm happy to have this card in my collection. Others may disagree, and that's fine.

[drcy]

You essentially got a PR1 as you expected.

According to my personal grading scale, an altered card is a Poor 1. And some poor cards are so beat up that PSA gives them an altered.

[Bigshot69]

By any chance was the card in question purchased in a screwdown holder?

[trdcrdkid]

Originally Posted by Bigshot69

By any chance was the card in question purchased in a screwdown holder?

I thought of that as a possibility too.

I think the OP needs to post pictures.

[doug.goodman]

Posting the card in question as a favor to the OP...

[Bigshot69]

Im not crazy about the lower right corner and Im not entirely sure what is covering up the left half of the “c” in Chicago, but I also don’t see anything definitive that would lead me to feel the card is clearly restored.

If I were holed up in a cubicle in Newport Beach I think I would be okay giving this a 1 at this time. There might be something I am missing by not judging the card in hand though.

Thanks for sharing.

FYI-I took a second look after I posted this and noticed the right edge gets shorter near the center of the card then wider towards the corners. This could have given the grader pause as well. There is also what appears to be a different sploch of color near the left side of Chance’s neckline. It might just be a small stain. Very tough to tell from the scan.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

They're calling that bottom right trimmed, I am almost positive.