Inspecting a card - the basics

 Alteration Overview

 Card Soaking

 Detecting bleached cards

 Detecting trimmed cards

 Card sanding

 Detecting a rebacked card

 Aging and toning

 Detecting recolored cards

Detecting rebuilt corners

 Reglossed cards

 Errors and oddities

 Other alterations

One of the more difficult alterations to accomplish is card rebacking. Taking as much as 8 man-hours to complete, rebacking is done to create very rare or previously unknown cards, repair damages due to paper loss or to improve a cards appearance. More than often it is done to make a unique card not known to the hobby but subtle enough to be believable.

Use caution when looking at a newly discovered cards or front/back combinations that does not seem probable. These type of cards can hyped and/or sell for an astronomical amount of money.

On the left is a T205 card rebacked with a vintage nonsport card front. The card on the right is an almost mythical T206 Hustler back card that was rumored to exist decades ago but has never been seen...until now. This card was used as the seamless first example of rebacked edge scans below. It is said that if a real one was to ever surface it may sell for over $100K.

It is not uncommon for new discoveries to surface in the card collecting hobby. Once sold these quickly catch the attention of collectors and card doctors. In an effort to cash in quickly on these new variations, a card doctor may make that same card and try to sell it quickly while the excitement is still there and when collectors new to the hobby buy on impulse and with little knowledge.

Here are before and after pictures of a rebacked card after the final alterations have been completed. A real pirate back card can sell for several thousand dollars and are considered very rare. This card was also made to look as if it had been hand-cut.

What to look for:

It's relatively known and easy enough to figure out that rebacking a card involves adhesives at some point. The adhesives can be difficult to hide and control. Check the front and back surfaces for discolorations, especially on the borders. Adhesive tend to rapidly soak through thin cardboard and leave stains. Also check the edges for any adhesives that may have leaked from the sides. With a loupe look for shinny edge spots and clear mico-pieces not usually associated with normal cards and cardboard.

Rebacking usually involves removing one side of the card surface or using a card that has already been skinned or peeled. It is extremely difficult to get the new raw cardboard perfectly flat. Feel or look at the surfaces under a halogen light for areas that are uneven, bumpy or not completely smooth. It may have the appearance that small grains of sand are imbedded into the card (shown below). Also, feel the thickness of the card, many card doctor's lack the ability to make a card that has close to normal thickness. They will often just put a new back on a regular card that has not been prepped. This will make a very thick card. It helps to know some of the more subtleties of the issue being collected.

A view of the back of a vintage card front being prepped to be rebacked. As you can see the thickness of the cardboard is not consistent which may show when the alteration is complete.

Carefully study the corners under magnification and lightning. If the suspected card has been rebacked the corners will often expose two layers as one side rounds or turns to another. This may at first appear to be edge wear but it may be stacked, tiered or layered cardboard.

A Here is a rebacked card before the edges were trimmed. When finished the end result will be edges that are flushed and even on all sides and, in some cases, seamless.

The most important part to examine and the point in which most rebacked cards are discovered are the edges. Here are edge examples of rebacked cards and some things to look for:

The first is a near perfect example with no seams, added tone, vintage faux cuts and unassuming thickness. Suspect cards at this level need all edges to be thoroughly examined with a loupe and under a halogen. Hopefully you will see some flaw or indicator that it has been rebacked such as; small cracks, overlap in card stock at the corners, fresh white cuts, adhesive residue (on the edge or on the borders) or raised fibers from sanding. Most rebacked cards have have thicker stock than a traditional card.

Here is an example of what a slight seam split (right side) looks like. Many may still miss this since the split is close to normal then blends into a very normal looking edge. Many pre-war cards that have not been altered may even have edges that naturally look just like this.

This rebacked card has near perfect thickness and great tone. Two completely different type and color cardstocks were joined creating a very distinct seam. Thankfully most rebacked cards will have this appearance. Without a loupe and inspection light, even this card has a natural look to the naked eye.

A seemingly impossible T205 front with a T206. This card was sent to a T205 expert and found to be virtually undetectable until told specifically where and what to look for. Only then did it become apparent.

Here is a look at one way a card is rebacked; Since this is card is modern (not prewar) it is actually refaced. The top picture shows the front and back side of a card that had the thin picture lifted off. The dark areas are nothing more than light glue residue. Another card, in this case a 1975 Jim Rice rookie, had the picture removed as well and refaced the back of the Detroit Tigers team card. A Special effort was made to leave excess residue on the front so when the card was refaced it would have an obvious rough surface when angled under a light. When done with any degree of skill this rough surface will be smooth. The same card, both front and back, was scanned flat to show how a rebacked card with surface defects can still look normal.