Examining Older Cards

elbow · January 31, 2007 11:30PM

Besides a jewelers loupe and rubber gloves, what other tools can be used to pre examine older cards for submission??

Ladder7 · February 1, 2007 12:07AM

A black light for spotting 'whitening' agents applied to paper in the 50's. Also, if you see counterfeit_card bidding, run like hell.

digicat · February 1, 2007 12:50AM

A jaded eye.

Treetop · February 1, 2007 1:22AM

Depends what grade your looking for. If its just 8's and below, a nice bright light would do it

Rubber gloves? Holy Cow!!

elbow · February 1, 2007 5:32AM

I'm always trying for gems!! I heard greasy fingerprints bring the grade down!

kcballboy · February 1, 2007 5:56AM

If you're worried about greasy fingerprints you could just use your ELBOWS.

Ba-dum-dum

elbow · February 3, 2007 11:55PM

I just started submitting to psa and haven't gotten a gem yet

need some pre examining, wax pack ripping advice!

Southerncards · February 4, 2007 12:03AM

Rose colored glasses....

elbow · February 4, 2007 11:41PM

rose colored glasses??

RonBurgundy · February 5, 2007 1:38AM

Loupe (or a good magnifier) and a bright light is all you need. Might want to measure them up too.

Beware of surface wrinkles and small rubber band marks around the edges, both front and back. Both are grade killers.

Ron

elbow · February 5, 2007 12:06PM

thanks for all of your help!

PROMETHIUS88 · February 5, 2007 12:20PM

Greasy fingers??? Just stay away from the Cheetos prior to readying your submission!!

Gem mint is difficult no matter what you are submitting. The older they are, of course the more difficult it gets.
You are deffinately in the right place to get advice, as many of members have the "eye" here (just not me)!

Good luck in your submission!

Tim

onlychild · February 5, 2007 12:21PM

lawnmowerman · February 5, 2007 12:23PM

onlychild · February 5, 2007 12:25PM

You will need:

a 50+ watt halogen light

a 10x jeweler's loupe

a ruler accurate to 1/32"

blacklight is optional but not nearly as important as a halogen

ditch the gloves...you need the feel.

ColleSystem · February 5, 2007 12:40PM

You may not want to use gloves, I am not sure though. This is because, gloves lessen the sensitivty that your finger tips have, as a result, you might wind up handling the cards more harshly than necessary. At least with paper stock, that is the rule of thumb.

I viewed some hand written items from Edgar Allen Poe from the archival museum at the University of Texas. Their instructions were to not use gloves for that exact reason. I was literaly paging through a 20 page short story which was hand written by Poe. Definately worth hundreds of thousands. I also was able to handle one of the only remaining handwritten paragraphs of "The Raven" in existance. Although, that item was in a protective sleeve, I was instructed to not use gloves. Again, no big deal since that was already in sleeve. I am sure that it was probably worth close to a million. Of note, there are no known hand written copies of that complete poem, and I think their maybe only one or two more paragraph long handwritten exerpts that have survived.

Again, these were paper items, cardboard may be different

Scott

Boopotts · February 5, 2007 2:58PM

<< <i>You may not want to use gloves, I am not sure though. This is because, gloves lessen the sensitivty that your finger tips have, as a result, you might wind up handling the cards more harshly than necessary. At least with paper stock, that is the rule of thumb.

I viewed some hand written items from Edgar Allen Poe from the archival museum at the University of Texas. Their instructions were to not use gloves for that exact reason. I was literaly paging through a 20 page short story which was hand written by Poe. Definately worth hundreds of thousands. I also was able to handle one of the only remaining handwritten paragraphs of "The Raven" in existance. Although, that item was in a protective sleeve, I was instructed to not use gloves. Again, no big deal since that was already in sleeve. I am sure that it was probably worth close to a million. Of note, there are no known hand written copies of that complete poem, and I think their maybe only one or two more paragraph long handwritten exerpts that have survived.

Again, these were paper items, cardboard may be different

Scott >>

Didn't UT cough up seven figures recently for Norman Mailer's papers? That place must be building (or already have) one hell of an archive.

elbow · February 6, 2007 8:48PM

Wow! Thanks again for all of the input. I've been told that slight fingerprints or small smudges viewed by PSA graders can bring a grade down, as they won't wipe the cards off for you! Any suggestions on how to "wipe off small smudges or fingerprints"?? Or is this info bogus in many minds?

elbow · February 7, 2007 8:43AM

Okay, so ditch the gloves, use a halogen bulb, jewelers loupe and blacklight optional. Any more pre submittal practices??

themetalsign · February 7, 2007 8:53AM

Most importantly make sure you know how to grade the cards you're submitting by market standards.......... Not all cards are created equal.

Dave D.

athleticsfan · February 7, 2007 9:07AM

If you are dealing with vintage cards you won't need to worry about finger prints. Nylon stockings are very useful when removing wax stains off the front surface. Just be gentle.

stown · February 7, 2007 9:22AM

<< <i>Didn't UT cough up seven figures recently for Norman Mailer's papers? That place must be building (or already have) one hell of an archive. >>

UT is flush with cash and that's an understatement.

Believe they are in the top 5 for endowments.

Examining Older Cards

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