Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Randy on January 22, 2015 at 5:45am

Second and third images definitely not authentic IMO. First image is a little tougher for me.

Wait for other Mantle experts to chime in. There are many experts on this forum.

Just post the images of the other autographs you would like opinions on. It is better to get multiple opinions rather than just one.

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Permalink Reply by Jordan Brown on January 22, 2015 at 5:56am

Thanks for the reply! Would you mind walking me through your train of thought? I have a huge collection of Mantles and would love some pointers on separating the real from the fake

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Permalink Reply by Randy on January 22, 2015 at 6:08am

You really have to study known authentic examples to compare to and most forgeries are easy to spot. Best thing to do is go to Ebay and search for JSA or PSA/DNA authenticated Mantles and print examples out and then compare to your autographs. JSA and PSA/DNA rarely make a mistake on Mantle. There have been one or two pointed out on this forum they missed the boat on but it happens very rarely on Mantle. The second and third examples are really bad forgeries and easily detected when comparing to authentic examples. If your grandfather bought these Mantles in the 90's at shows from dealers or through mail order, unfortunately most are likely not genuine. The Marino family and specifically Greg Marino flooded the market with forgeries in the 90's and eventually went to jail when the FBI busted the ring. Just post them here and you will get good opinions. Hopefully, he got some good ones. 

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Permalink Reply by Fuddjcal on January 22, 2015 at 9:51am

I like #1, #2 is an obvious forgery and #3 is a toss up. It has characteristics I like, and some I don't. It certainly is not a dime store phony like #2.

maybe this will help you?

http://live.autographmagazine.com/profiles/blogs/mickey-mantle-auth...

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Permalink Reply by GraphingMlb on January 22, 2015 at 12:58pm

I  would pass on 3 personally..1 is beautiful and i would sacrifice my first born for that one..2 is pure Cwapo~~

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Permalink Reply by Steve on January 22, 2015 at 6:03pm

The first one is good. The second and third are no good. Although the third one has a characteristic or two that are close, there are way too many that are off.

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Permalink Reply by David S on January 22, 2015 at 9:06pm

In agreement with others, I like 1 not 2 or 3

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Permalink Reply by Null on January 23, 2015 at 6:49am

#1 is authentic, and I've never seen that inscription. Very Cool

#2 is a dreadful forgery.

#3 is a forgery as well, I see this forger pop up occasionally and can see his flaws from a mile away. 

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Permalink Reply by Randy on January 23, 2015 at 9:22am

I have seen the inscription a time or two on a '51 rookie photo but never on a '53 Topps photo.

Very surprised as much as he hated adding inscriptions he added this one to this photo.

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