My take on Michael O'Keeffe's book, "The Card"

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Posted By: boxingcardman

Either they are false quotes (in which case I would expect fervent denials from the alleged speakers followed by defamation actions) or they are accurate, in which case they present a pretty damning case against the card having been issued 100 years ago in its present form. Add to that Hughes's saying that he thought the card was trimmed when he examined it for PSA but authenticated it anyhow for the good of the hobby (aka the good of PSA) and I think it more likely than not that the card was cut from a sheet in recent times and trimmed and encapsulated with PSA knowingly included in the conspiracy to make the card the #1 card in the hobby.

All of that of course means nothing if PSA stands behind it financially. Like stocks, the issue is less what the card is "worth" than what the perception of the card (company) is within a small group of wealthy men (institutional investors) and their advisors and confidants. I remember when Gidwitz bought it and said that the card was a better investment then (with the Gretzky-McNall cachet) than it had been when Gretzky and McNall purchased it. He was right--perception is everything.