Is it possible to flatten out Old Judge cards?

[Archive]

Posted By: Rob

I was thinking of purchasing a raw Old Judge card with warping and I will want to get it graded, no creases, sharp corners but with a curl due to the albumen. Will the warping affect a grade PSA or SGC give it? It looks to grade a 5-6 without the warping. Anyone have any experience with this issue?

[Archive]

Posted By: Brian H (misunderestimated)

It will generally not effect the grade and flattening the card is very risky...

[Archive]

Posted By: Judge Dred (Fred)

How much curl does it have? Can you show a picture of the curl?

[Archive]

Posted By: Art M.

Also effective in cracking out those slabbed cards.

[Archive]

Posted By: barrysloate

If you try taking the natural curl out of an Old Judge you are likely to crease it. Not recommended.

[Archive]

Posted By: bigfish

Don't try to flatten the card out. You will ruin it. Most old judges look this way and you will not be hammered by grading companies for alittle bend in the card.

[Archive]

Posted By: Joe_G.

Curled OJs & grading companies, an interesting dilema. Has anyone had a grading company refuse a submission for fear of damage when they slab it flat? The Old Judges I've submitted have been flat for the most part, the few with some curl in them came back just fine.

Could you share a side view picture of the card in question?

Best Regards,
Joe Gonsowski

[Archive]

Posted By: Judge Dred (Fred)

I've seen a few cards with a vertical crease down the middle and the only conclusion I could come up with is that someone tried to flatten the OJ curl.

[Archive]

Posted By: Jay

The slabs allow space for some curl to an Old Judge card. Unless the card looks like a "U" it will probably fit.

[Archive]

Posted By: warshawlaw

Warning: this is not for the faint of heart. I have some old 1/4" plexi holders with male-female fasteners (they were sold around 15 years ago for expensive cards). The male-female fasteners allow you to leave the slab top in place with very little force behind it and about 3/16" free space between the two pieces of the slab. I put the card into one of these with the screws just holding it so that the weight of the plexiglas was all the force on the card. Once every few weeks I tightened it about 1/4 turn just to the point of resistance. After about 3-4 months the card was flat enough to send to grading. It did not flatten it all the way, just enough. This was my 1st OJ card; I was so naive that I had no idea I could damage the card that way. Fortunately, nothing was damaged. I still have the card and it shows no ill effects. It is one of my favorite cards; ironic since I don't care for OJs.

I've since done the same with a pretty badly curled steroeview but that isn't working as fast since it is much larger item. I'd estimate a year or more for that one to flatten enough to display.

[Archive]

Posted By: davidcycleback

I don't know how it effects professional grade, but a bit of curl is common to these types of small 1800s photo cigarette cards. The curl is natural, due to aging. If not pasted to a backing, the thin albumen photo print on front naturally rolls into a tight 'cigarette' over time, explaining why the cards gains a bow.

[Archive]

Posted By: Rob

Was wondering if there was a paper conservator around here to with techniques on dealing with paper, or cardboard in this case.

If the grade doesn't get affected by the curling, no need to try to flatten (not overly curled). Tried flatten a rather inexpensive 1930-ish British photographic card, got a nice big fat crease for the efforts, no need to do that again with a more pricey card. Card looks more a "4", with a closer examination, with a slight ding (although better eye appeal), so couldn't expect a 5 or better anyway.

[Archive]

Posted By: davidcycleback

If the bow is not excessive, I wouldn't try and fix it. By straightening the
cardboard you will be stretching the photographic print, and you don't know what
will happen then. Perhpas you will end up with a crease or tear. These types
of photo cards are bone dry. I know collectors who have accidentally snapped
in half cards and cabinet cards when trying to correct them.

[Archive]

Posted By: Judge Dred (Fred)

David,

You are so right about not knowing what will happen to the photo. I've not snapped one, hope I never do.

I have an OJ with a pretty big curl. I started to slowly flatten the card by humidifying the card using two halves of a screw down and ever so slightly tightening down one half. What I noticed were a few wrinkles starting to develop in the image. I stopped right there and figured it was fine the way it was.