Authenticating with a jeweler's loupe

[UKCardGuy]

Originally Posted by cardsagain74

Just received a loupe and have been testing a few raw cadillac cards that I always figured were real (but looking closeup gives more peace of mind).

Thankfully all passed my initial test of comparing pixelation to commons/graded cards. But I am a neophyte at this.

Other than the pixel patterns, anyone have advice on other useful methods or specifics to look for (either for authenticity or checking for common alterations)?

Thanks!

This is a topic that's been of real interest to me too. I've done some research and happy to share what I've learned. It would be great to have this elaborated by others with more knowledge than me.

I found a useful guide on pre-war authentication here: http://cycleback.com/

Most of my questions have been about post war cards. Sportscard Counterfiet Dectector by Bob Lemke is a very good resource. I picked up a used version from 1994 really cheap. As I'm not trying to authenticate modern cards, this was OK for me.

Key themes to check:
1) Pixelation in the cards and understanding the subtleties of half-tone printing.
2) Looking at the solid color areas of the card. These are generally, the facsimile signatures on the card and the solid color bars with the player/team name on them.
3) Comparing the card stock to a known good example
4) Cards that are too short (e.g. trimming)
5) Artificial ageing. I'm still learning to detect these.
5) Printing quality issues (e.g. is something blurry or less detailed than you'd expect)
6) Typos (e.g. incorrect branding, logos, text)

I've attached photos of a real 1955 Jackie Robinson and a Reprint card that I bought to learn the difference. Hopefully, it's helpful.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by UKCardGuy

This is a topic that's been of real interest to me too. I've done some research and happy to share what I've learned. It would be great to have this elaborated by others with more knowledge than me.

I found a useful guide on pre-war authentication here: http://cycleback.com/

Most of my questions have been about post war cards. Sportscard Counterfiet Dectector by Bob Lemke is a very good resource. I picked up a used version from 1994 really cheap. As I'm not trying to authenticate modern cards, this was OK for me.

Key themes to check:
1) Pixelation in the cards and understanding the subtleties of half-tone printing.
2) Looking at the solid color areas of the card. These are generally, the facsimile signatures on the card and the solid color bars with the player/team name on them.
3) Comparing the card stock to a known good example
4) Cards that are too short (e.g. trimming)
5) Artificial ageing. I'm still learning to detect these.
5) Printing quality issues (e.g. is something blurry or less detailed than you'd expect)
6) Typos (e.g. incorrect branding, logos, text)

I've attached photos of a real 1955 Jackie Robinson and a Reprint card that I bought to learn the difference. Hopefully, it's helpful.

Used David's site and Bob's book and both are great.

2 of the things I use are a top lighted 60-100X microscope and my TV. Scan a card at at least 1200dpi and then put that picture on your big ass TV screen. When you can see a high quality picture at 3.5'X2.5' instead of 3.5"X2.5" it makes a huge difference.