Card exposure to light - effects

[MCoxon]

Hi there - I display my collection in my home office, with many arrayed on desk space and in a case mounted on a wall. What is your take on risks from light exposure (sun, lamp), e.g., fading, color bleaching?

All cards are in PSA cases, and the wall mount may have some sort of tint protection (bought on ebay). No direct sunlight falls on the cards, but there are torch lamps in the room and lamps are used maybe 2-3 days per week.

I love the look of cards on the wall as more or less wall art, and this helps justify the expense to my wife - at least a little.

So, I would hate to move the cards to storage in a dark / cool / dry space and miss out on seeing the cards every day - but I also want to protect them.

Thoughts on risks/rewards of displaying?

[ALR-bishop]

I worry about it some. All my sets are in sheets in binders. Very few are out in holders exposed to a daily light source. There are a couple of good threads here where Ben has posted examples of cards he has exposed to ongoing light sources to show effects over time. There are also some related discussions in the various 58 Blue Aaron threads.

The Blue Aarons were initially selling for a big premium but so many showed up eventually that it may be someone was creating some or all of them with light. If a sheet defect you would expect more examples of other cards from the sheets.

I picked up the Mays below because I thought it might be a print defect given both the front and back differences, but it is likely also due to light exposure. Maybe Ben can re post some of his light exposure examples. In one thread someone posted a card that was faded from the light except for one large round area where there was probably a sticker with a price on the holder blocking the light source.

[David W]

They will fade, especially under sun light or fluorescent.

I've got a 1984 Topps uncut sheet behind plexiglass on my office wall, and it
has faded quite a bit.

I've also got other cards displayed on shelves, and some have faded. None are particularly valuable - they are 1964 Topps Giants.

What I did for my more valuable cards I wanted to display was make a photocopy of them and put them in a holder or a frame.

You cannot really tell they are photocopies at first glance.

[bnorth]

I don't know much about sun faded cards because that is not how I do it. Once you see a card faded in the sun though you will be able to easily spot them in the future. All cards exposed to daily light will fade.

No matter how you "fade" the cards the colors that are removed or lightened vary greatly from year to year and brand. Some lose the yellow first, some lose the red first and some it is easiest to see in the black. The amount of color and how fast they are removed also varies greatly by year/brand.

Here is a pic of a "faded" 58 Hank Aaron I done and then got graded by SGC. I removed all the yellow except in the logo. Sorry for the bad cell phone picture. I hoped after I done this and posted about it before was that it would save people from paying a premium for an altered card. Unless you are looking for the only known blue front 58 Aaron with a nice yellow logo because it will command a huge premium. If you search this site for Blue 1958 Aaron you should find some good info.