Some of the mysteries and myths surrounding the most famous card in the hobby.

[steve B]

I only have one T card I might be able to trace back.
And that's assuming I still have the auction reciept somewhere. (It was a heap card in an auction of what was supposedly an original collection that included a Wagner. )

I do think very convincing fakes could be made, but it would be very difficult to make one that would survive serious examination.

Even a great fake may not really succeed.

Back early -mid 80s I was hanging out at my LCS, and they handed me a 51 Mantle and just said be careful with this, it's not ours. ANs tell me what you think.
Very nice card, today would get a decently high grade, maybe 8? Maybe better.
But after a while I handed it back saying that it was really great looking, but also fake.
It had been to several other dealers, plus the local guys, and that was the opinion of everyone. A wonderful fake. Odd thing was, nobody could say why.

So either someone shopped a very very well done fake 51 Bowman around with no takers, or a lot of experienced dealers passed on an incredible card.