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Permalink Reply by DELVIN R BERG on June 4, 2017 at 10:42pm

I paid $10 for a PSA Quick Opinion on this ball and it came back "unable to render an opinion".  I was going to make an offer on the ball, but it's no longer on eBay.  If the ball was on an AL or NL ball, I probably would have passed, but because it was a Cuban baseball, I would have offered $1,000 - especially if PSA couldn't it was "likely NOT genuine" with very clear scans.  Any other thoughts?

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Permalink Reply by DELVIN R BERG on June 4, 2017 at 10:45pm

The PSA Quick Opinion of "unable to render an opinion" tells me "maybe, maybe not".  Or am I reading too much into it.  After all, they refunded me my $10.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on June 4, 2017 at 11:00pm

How did you get from "I can't give any opinion from those photographs" to "maybe, maybe not"? Unable to render an opinion means just that, no? 

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Permalink Reply by DELVIN R BERG on June 4, 2017 at 11:28pm

If you look at the scan, the signature is very clear.  According to the PSA/DNA website with regard to Quick Opinion, "reasons include: (1) Inadequate Scans (2) Outside area of expertise (3) Not all signatures visible (4) Request made too close to auction closing."

Because the scans were adequate; Castro is NOT outside their expertise, the only signature was visible; and the request was NOT made too close to the auction closing - I interpret the "unable to render an opinion" as "maybe, maybe not". 

 

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on June 4, 2017 at 11:02pm

It's on a baseball, so it's really hard to authenticate, but there is enough there that seems inconsistent with genuine Castro autographs, and it's slowly signed, so I think you're best to avoid it.

A dealer would have snapped it up if it looked promising.

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Permalink Reply by DELVIN R BERG on June 4, 2017 at 11:33pm

I don't think the signature looks like it was done "slowly".  And the handful of baseballs I've seen by Castro almost all look different.  But the scan does look like Castro's signature on various documents.  Besides, I don't think a dealer would have snapped it up, the seller was asking $7,000.  I was going to use the PSA Quick Opinion to try and get the ball for $1,000.  But I doubt the seller would have taken it if he believed it was genuine.

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Permalink Reply by DELVIN R BERG on June 4, 2017 at 11:34pm

... if he'd jumped on my offer, then I'd have 2nd thoughts about the authenticity.

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Permalink Reply by DELVIN R BERG on June 4, 2017 at 11:39pm

Here's a couple of Castro signatures on documents.  They look very similar to the baseball.

Attachments: No photo uploads here

• Castro.jpg, 7 KB
• Castro2.jpg, 12 KB

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Permalink Reply by DELVIN R BERG on June 4, 2017 at 11:46pm

Here's a Castro baseball authenticated by JSA.

Attachments: No photo uploads here

• Castro5.jpg, 232 KB

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