Detecting Counterfeit Baseball Cards in PSA Holders

In the baseball card industry, scams, counterfeits and rip-off artists have always existed. From the early 80s, when counterfeit 1963 Pete Rose rookies flooded the market to more modern sophisticated methods, counterfeiters are always looking for a way to make a dollar. Only the most knowledgeable collectors and dealers, who were familiar with the intricacies  of the cards, such as printing techniques and card stock properties, were able to comfortably buy higher dollar cards without the threat of being cheated. The common collector was a prime candidate to be taken advantage of. With no simple method of detecting these counterfeits and most collectors not knowing who to trust, many believed this epidemic could single handily ruin the baseball card market.

However, in 1991, the “savior” of the industry arrived, Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA). PSA offered a service to both grade and authenticate baseball cards. Any cards sent to PSA would be graded and stored in a tamper proof case, thus ensuring the safe buying and selling of that card in the future. Even a beginning collector could buy a PSA graded card with the utmost confidence. Even today, the vast majority of baseball card collectors will rarely question the authenticity of card that resides within a “PSA” case.

Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for the scam artists to figure out how to get their piece of pie in the graded card market. The most widely known and successful scam originated in California and is referred to amongst collectors as the “California Craigslist PSA scam”. Below, I’ll outline the specific scam and what measures need to be taken to avoid this specific scam and scams of a similar nature.

The Scam

The scam, which originated in California, involved selling high dollar counterfeit cards in legitimate PSA holders. First, the scam artists buy several low dollar PSA graded cards. Next, they “crack” the cards out by separating the PSA holders at the seam. Even though PSA claims to have a “tamper evident” holder, it is quite easy to open the holder without damaging it. Once the holder is opened, the “flip” (label) and card are removed and replaced with a counterfeit card and flip. Finally, using a clear adhesive, the holder is resealed and ready to be sold.

All of the fake flips utilize legitimate cert numbers, so if the cards are looked up in PSA database, they will match the card in the holder, but realize these numbers can be easily obtained and have no meaning on determining whether the card is authentic or not.

The Cards

The cards used in the scam are higher dollar mid-hi grade examples that are high in demand. Below is a list of cards most commonly found in the scam:

• T206 Cobb Re portrait PSA 6
• t206 Cobb Bat on PSA 6
• 1933 Goudey Ruth #53 PSA 5
• 1933 Goudey Lou Gehrig #92 PSA6
• 1934 Goudey Gehrig PSA5
• 1951 Bowman Mantle PSA 4
• 1952 Bowman Mantle PSA 6
• 1954 Aaron PSA 7
• 1954 Aaron PSA 6
• 1955 Clemente PSA6
• 1956 Mantle PSA 7

Method of Detection

Obviously, having the card in hand is the best and easiest way to determine if the holder and card have been compromised, however typically nowadays when cards are bought, a picture or scan of the cards is all collectors have to go off of. The three components that need to be scrutinized are the holder, the flip, and the card.

To detect if a holder has been opened or tampered with, the easiest way is to analyze the edges of the holder. PSA designed the edges of the holders to “frost” when opened. Frequently, only the top portion of the case will be cracked open so the flip and card can be removed without having to crack open the entire holder. Notice in the picture below showing a Hank Aaron RC that the upper half of the holder is frosted.

The flips that are used in this scam are homemade, so they utilize a different font, character alignment, and spacing than authentic flips. However, the differences in these areas are often so minute, it can be very difficult to determine authenticity solely based on these attributes. The cert numbers on the flip are actual cert numbers and can be matched up with PSA’s database, however these numbers can easily be found and have no bearing on authenticity. The easiest way to check flip authenticity is by looking at the bar code. With authentic PSA cards, the bar code should be unique to each card and never duplicated on any other card. However, each card from this scam shares the same bar code (ex. every 1954 Topps Hank Aaron card will have different cert numbers but the same bar code).

Lastly, the cards used in the scam are typically very good counterfeits and can be difficult to detect through a picture or scan. However, some of them are easy to spot as can be seen with the Hank Aaron below. Bottom line is be careful where you buy the cards and always do a thorough inspection once you have the cards in hand.

Examples

Here are some examples of cards that have come from this particular scam. The first scan was actually sent to me by one the scam artists in California. What can be seen is several of the cards in different stages of production. It is difficult to tell if the cards shown are counterfeits or authentic cards used to create counterfeits.

The following 3 Mantle cards were all confirmed to be fake by Joe Orlando, President of PSA. The tipoff was the incorrect font and font alignment on the flips of the cards.