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

Sometimes color enhancements or added color by use of paint, colored pencil, ink or markers were done long ago just to make a worn card more aesthetically pleasing. These types of enhancements were not used to fool a potential buyer but to satisfy the individual collector. That's not to say that it's not done to raise the value of a card as well. Small "touchups" are one of the more common forms of card doctoring. This is done in an attempt to trick the buyer into thinking a card is in better condition than it actually is. Corners slightly worn, scuffs, missing paper stock, hairline surface errors are some examples of problems that can be improved by recoloring a card.

When a card is recolored it is often done in one or more of the corners. Improving just small spot of color lost on a corner can greatly increase the value of a card and improve the overall "quick-glance" look. It is often done in such a subtle way that only a small dot of color is added and may be very difficult to see. Pay particularly close attention to black or white areas of a card, these colors are the easiest to cover and match up. You may want to inspect these areas more than once.

Under a light and with a loupe, look very closely at the tip of each corner for colors that do not match the rest of the corner. It may only a shade or two off, since it is hard to match original colors exactly. This is especially true on vintage cards where the natural color has become slightly faded throughout the years. Examine the corners and look for colors that seem dull or in some cases over glossy. For this type of alteration you will need to look at the edges of the card as well. The added color will frequently seep through and bleed onto the edges. This is fairly easy to identify since it will show as a color different than the natural tone.

This 1962 Topps card has a recolored corner tip. Highly magnified it is plain to see but to the naked eye it is next to impossible and looks very normal.

Added colors can by applied to just about anywhere on a card. Don't limit yourself to just inspecting the corners. With higher values being placed on cards that have printing errors, recoloring a large section or just even a single letter can boost the value of a card tremendously. If you are inspecting a card that is known error variant you cannot scrutinize the areas in question hard enough. You want to make certain that these areas have not been doctored in any way. Recoloring is a very popular way to make a normal card into that, ever-so-rare error card.

This card has had the neckline recolored with a thin black marker. Again, difficult to see without a loupe and halogen light. Ink marks will show as either dull of reflective, depending on the ink used.

By looking at the card under a halogen light tilt the card surfaces and edges at various angles and heights and look for areas that seem dull or shiny. Recoloring a card is replacing the original ink in an attempt to blend or match the color that is missing. Since this usually involves using more modern coloring methods it is not uncommon for the recolored area to have a dull appearance. This is usually seen when paint or colored pencils are used. Color enhancements may also appear to have more gloss which is immediately noticeable under a light. The gloss may actually be highly reflective when colored markers are used.

This Goudey has obvious had green color added to the background. It does show up much better on a scan than in person. That is because a scanner can, at times, act like a halogen light and reveal hidden alterations.

One method used to cover a large area is the smear. This is done to hide areas that have light scratches and/or scuffs. Water soluble ink is used and literally smeared across with the finger while wet to blend a large area. To identify this alteration the halogen light will usually show a very dull large spot. Examine the dots and individual pixels, they will not be very distinct or clear but will look joined and...well...smeared.

Although barely noticeable even when magnified, a large portion under the brim of the hat has been recolored. A brown marker was used and gently smeared while wet. This creates an even, slightly transparent blend that would show as a dull spot when compared to the normal gloss of this card.