PSA Misses Fake, Misspelled Joe DiMaggio Autograph

Tony from the great YouTube channel Southern Collector reached out to me about this card:

There are a few things wrong with this. See how many you can spot. Here’s what I have:

• The “autograph” is not mentioned on the PSA label

• It hasn’t been assessed by PSA’s DNA group

• The card got a 3 from PSA, with no MK qualifier

• “Joseph” is spelled wrong in the signature

Last week I said I was done doing videos dedicated to talking about PSA mistakes, but this one almost made me change my mind. It’s so egregious!

The card was listed on Goldin, so I reached out to Ken who added the following note to the listing:

“Please note that the signature on the cardfront is secretarial and not struck in DiMaggio's hand.”

At first I didn’t think this was adequate, but then I came to the conclusion that it’s not Goldin’s responsibility to make sure PSA gets it right. PSA has authenticated the card, and they probably got the grade wrong. Should Goldin make sure PSA fixes it?

I also couldn’t find any secretarial signatures that spelled out his first name, let alone spelled it wrong. Of course, that doesn’t mean that it’s not one.

I did find several other auction houses who called out secretarial signatures on DiMaggio cards like Goldin did.

What do you think?

Ask Me Anything!

In a video last week, I announced that I am doing another Ask Me Anything, something I’d like to do monthly or so.

You can ask me anything either via comments here, email me at [email protected], or comment on the video here:

I Knew It!

On Sunday’s Clearing the Bases episode, I showed a numbered Luka Doncic rookie card and wondered why it wasn’t graded (source: Neo). I suggested that there was a possibility that it had been previously graded and then cracked out due to the grade.

Well, The Legend Auburn35 proved me right:

It used to be an SGC 9.

I’m not saying this is wrong to crack a card out and sell it raw. Just that we should be suspicious when a card worth $5,000+ in a PSA 9 is for sale ungraded.

Several commenters replied that they have never graded a card and don’t own any graded cards, but in order to maximize your money on a card like that you would or at least should see if you can get a 10 from it.

Some others suggested that it had been cracked from the SGC 9 case and graded lower at PSA, but I find no evidence of that. It’s certainly believable, though.

How does Auburn35 always find these?

I Loved Andy Van Slyke

My pal Dan shared this great meme that spoke to me:

PSA Is Good At Software and Marketing

PSA announced a big app update:

And this made me think of this:

🗣️ YouTube Comment Of The Week

Would this be like the puzzles from 1980s Donruss, where the card is cut in half? To maximize the value, you need to find both and connect them.

🎬 Upcoming Videos

• Attic Find Friday!

• #34-30 of my ACE 100 list

• A subscriber’s killer music card collection — I keep putting this one off because it’s big and intimidating

• Amazing ticket collection

• Subscriber collection rooms

📩 Upcoming Newsletters

• Missing Caitlin Clark card in Panini checklist?

• 22-year TTM wait

If you have a cool story about collecting for either a video or newsletter, please send it to me.

🎬 Channel Highlights From the Past Month

In February I only published 12 videos, my lowest output since May of 2022, when I published 10 videos and had 6,000 views.

I had 95,000 in February. This is largely thanks to old Attic Find Friday videos continuing to get big views.

As for last week, the most fun I had was with this PSA reveal:

That is a genuine reaction from me on that Ripken. And yes, I am selling it. These comments explain it best:

🎁 My Pickup Of The Week

Absolutely, positively nothing. I mention this on my Monday pickups video, but I made a mistake in 2024 after my family went through some changes, and now I owe $5,000 in taxes. That’s a $7,000+ hit, considering I was expecting a $2,000 refund.

Ouch.

👻 Brief Horror Movie Review of the Week

I took Friday afternoon off to go see The Monkey in theaters. I’ve never been to see a movie by myself, but it was a difficult week personally and I really wanted to see it.

When I finished work at 2pm, though, I went upstairs and found my wife napping. I figured I’d lie down and take my normal 15-minute nap and still catch the 3:00 movie, but I ended up sleeping for over 90 minutes.

I didn’t have any other time for a movie this week. I did watch the latest episodes of Severance, White Lotus, and Survivor.

🔗 Links:

T206 Honus Wagner PSA Authentic - Restoration Report (From my Sunday video)

Buyer Beware with Online Purchases

Consigner of Victor Wembanyama jersey sues Goldin Auctions to stop sale

On this day in sports history: On March 3rd, 1983, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw was admitted to hospital for surgery to repair his throwing arm under the alias Thomas Brady.