Is there a difference between a PSA 1 and PSA "authentic"

[philliesphan]

From a condition perspective, it is not possible for a card to be so mangled that it cannot grade at a 1.0 level. There are times when a card is too fragile to be encapsulated -- but a card would never get an authentic grade because it did not meet the standards of a 1.

Sometimes, a collector wants their card authenticated, without a grade assigned, and it is possible to get a card authenticated as such. This is most often seen with autographed cards, hand cut cards, etc. Beckett and SGC also offer this service. But typically an Authentic grade is reserved for cards that have been altered in a meaningful way.

[JP]

Easy answer:

PSA 1 is the original status as it was in the pack, PSA AUTH has been changed somehow

[ichieh]

i wonder if you take this card out of the PSA authentic holder, and resubmit 10X, how many time would it come back 1 or higher. From the scan, i can't see why it's an altered card.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=170482733874

[jb217676]

The top of that Mantle card is trimmed. If it was full size (top to bottom) it would touch the top bar inside the holder. You'll waste your money 10x.

[Bosox Blair]

Originally Posted by jb217676

The top of that Mantle card is trimmed. If it was full size (top to bottom) it would touch the top bar inside the holder. You'll waste your money 10x.

Jeff's absolutely right - that card is 100% trimmed on the top. And possibly on the right border too. Complete hatchet job.

Cheers,
Blair

[HRBAKER]

I would hope that it would NEVER come back higher than a 1. It may come back a 1 a few times. Heck the submitter may have requested an Authentic label as opposed to a 1. It looks as though it was one of those cards that was folded up and carried in a wallet or something.

Of course you could always send it to BCCG and get at least a "5."

[Dan Carson]

Save your money, they don't know either!

[benjulmag]

As I understand it, a PSA Authentic doesn't necessarily mean the card has been altered in some way. What it means is that it exhibits physical characteristics which raises a question whether the card is altered, and therefore PSA is not comfortable giving the card a numerical grade. A good example would be Obaks or T210s. There have been threads opining that the irregular cuts of some of these cards were how they were originally issued, either due to hand-cutting or an otherwise irregular cutting process. Yet PSA will give them Authentic grades, even though to many hobby experts the cards are unaltered.

[tbob]

[QUOTE=philliesphan;807149]From a condition perspective, it is not possible for a card to be so mangled that it cannot grade at a 1.0 level. There are times when a card is too fragile to be encapsulated -- but a card would never get an authentic grade because it did not meet the standards of a 1.
QUOTE]

Marc- I have to disagree, I've seen cards in slabs marked authentic which have not been altered but merely worn or abused. Here's an example:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...STRK:MEBIDX:IT

[ullmandds]

Much to my chagrin...this card recently was graded at sgc and came back A...it has heavily worn corners...but is unaltered.

[GoldenAge50s]

My recent submission of 15 T206 cards to SGC had 3 come back as "A". All were close to 1/8" short T-B and were NOT altered by anyone--just factory -cut a bit shorter than allowed by SGC standard tolerance.

In fairness to SGC, I knew these 3 were short when I submitted and to their credit they caught them all.

In my 136 card purchase of original one-owner T206's back in Dec there were 6 cards that were cut short straight from the factory--about 4%.

I wouldn't doubt that 4% might be a standard miscut rate for original T206's.

Would anyone care to confirm or deny that figure?

[Exhibitman]

I've had cards that SGC would not grade numerically even though they are fine because they had too much damage. I've acquiesced to the "scarlet letter" just to get the cards into slabs to protect and display them.

[drc]

In my opinion, a card that has been altered is a grade of Poor. The grading companies have chosen to say an altered card can't receive a grade (other than Authentic). I don't have a problem with that.

Collectors of autographed cards often don't ask for grade for the card itself, even when the card is fine. They are concerned about the autograph not the card grade. In these cases, it is possible for a Near Mint card not to have a grade-- just an Authentic for the autograph.

But, in general and for non-autographed cards, Authentic usually indicates the card is altered, has something majorly wrong with it (ala so worn and torn only 70 percent of the card is there) or the graders are unfamiliar with card. An example of the latter is a newly discovered card where no one is sure how it was cut by the factory-- maybe like a stamp or decal or felt or something. As the submitters have some say if the card gets the Authentic grade, it can also involve the taste of the card owner. For whatever reason, a card owner may prefer an obviously beat up and marked card receive receive an Auth rather than a Poor. Of course, no card owner is going to ask his Mint card receive an Auth rather than a 9. As already said, a Mint looking card in an Auth holder means it's altered.

[Jay Wolt]

PSA-1's & SGC-10's don't always go for higher $ then slabbed authentic cards.

Here's an example below, I assume most would pick the authentic version, I would even if priced a bit higher.

[glchen]

[QUOTE=tbob;807229]

Originally Posted by philliesphan

From a condition perspective, it is not possible for a card to be so mangled that it cannot grade at a 1.0 level. There are times when a card is too fragile to be encapsulated -- but a card would never get an authentic grade because it did not meet the standards of a 1.
QUOTE]

Marc- I have to disagree, I've seen cards in slabs marked authentic which have not been altered but merely worn or abused. Here's an example:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Another example of a mangled card at Authentic:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=380225260533