With the stakes rising, how worried should we be about high quality counterfeit cards

[Lila2222]

I've wondered and asked this very same thing. I'm surprised with the high dollars cards are selling for, someone hasn't taken the time to meticulously reproduce every detail in a fake so as to make it undetectable; instead it seems they make consistent visible mistakes when even an average graphic designer could edit an image/font to make it the exact measurements of the original. It would be a significant undertaking to exactly mimic the paper content, ink content, etc but it does seem doable? It almost seems an eventuality especially with technology and increasing market values.

[Fred]

Just curious, most are wondering about reprinting vintage cards. Wouldn't it be easier to reprint Jordan rookies that are newer and with less worries about finding a card stock to match.

[conor912]

Originally Posted by Fred

Just curious, most are wondering about reprinting vintage cards. Wouldn't it be easier to reprint Jordan rookies that are newer and with less worries about finding a card stock to match.

I don’t know if it would be easier, but it would likely get more scrutiny than a good fake Goudey Ruth printed on 1930’s cardboard if the stock was right.

[drcy]

I believe that alternations are the concern, not undetectable counterfeits. There are always methods to identity reprints, even of modern cards, and undetectable reprints of Pre-War cards I don't believe is possible. Of course, errors and misidentifications will be made, but I think companies such as SGC and PSA will always be reliable as far as authentication goes.

And of course that's not to say there won't be detectable counterfeits that will be bought and sold. Bad counterfeits are bought today and have been for decades. That's not a matter of technological innovations.

The one area where a troublesome forgery of a Pre-War card(s) or similar memorabilia will happen is a brand new creation of something that didn't exist before (a fantast card). There a forger can use the Pre-War printing technology. As we all know, overprints or something like that can also be an issue, because someone's just adding a stamp or whatever to an authentic card.

[steve B]

This is the first fake I ever bought, at the first show I went to in 1978. It was a whole $2....
besides the falsely aged stock, the tip off was that that back didn't come on that card. (Pointed out to me by the dealer I hung out at)



I got a lot better at picking that stuff up, partly because they made themselves a few fantasy cards, which were always sort of obvious.

in 82 or 83 they showed me a 51 Mantle that was being sent around to dealers in hopes they'd buy it.
Without telling me anything, they just handed it to me one day and asked me what I thought. It was incredibly nice looking. Today it would probably be a 9 or 10.
"Beautiful card, but it's fake. And it bugs me that I can't explain why"
I tried finding an explanation for maybe a half hour.

Apparently that was their opinion, and that of at least 3-4 other dealers who had seen it.
It still sort of bugs me, and I'm almost positive that today I could explain why.
I also wonder where that card is now, and if it's in a very highly graded slab.

I'll guarantee you I can build artwork that will look exactly like the original. Down to the dot pattern, dot size and off registrations. All one needs from that is vintage card stock that can easily be found and on offset printer still using the old pre press techniques. A few paper companies are also making some vintage style stocks these days due to the demand for more and more vintage looking materials. As for pre-war cards those unique printing processes are also still practiced by smaller companies and individuals albeit not a ton of them. Like I said earlier cost has always been the biggest factor but with prices getting crazy someone might be dumb enough to try it. If money can be counterfeited cards can be. Look at the lengths the government has had to go to prevent that.

[drcy]

It depends on which cards. Allen & Ginters and T206s, for example, simply cannot be exactly duplicated. For some modern card, it may be different.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by Fred

Just curious, most are wondering about reprinting vintage cards. Wouldn't it be easier to reprint Jordan rookies that are newer and with less worries about finding a card stock to match.

It would depend on the set. In some ways, a modern card is harder. Separating the four colors on the picture and getting the exact halftone would be difficult.

Any of the single color sets would be fairly easy if someone was skilled. Same for the two color sets like E100 or T210

Strip cards...Like W516 Which are often wildly inconsistent would probably be the easiest.
48Leaf
R302

"Good enough" to pass current grading wouldn't be hard.

"Good enough" to be totally undetectable? would be hard.

As others have said, a totally "new" fantasy set... easy.