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The GAI Mantle, DiMaggio & Ted Williams Hoard—Are They All Forgeries?

A hoard of thousands Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams signed photos have flooded the market over the last few years. All authenticated by Global Authentication Inc., with COAs signed by former GAI executive Mike Baker.

The hoard has driven down prices on these legendary Baseball Hall of Famers by 50-percent or more, and it's not rare to find one for well under $50.

The problem?

Every baseball expert we asked is emphatic that they're forgeries. And they've had that same opinion since the hoard came out of Florida in 2008.

If the experts are right—and I don't doubt that they are—not only are thousands of collectors stuck with these worthless photos. Thousands more have unfairly suffered a catastrophic drop in the value of their genuine Mantles, DiMaggios and Williams due to the flood of fakes.

And as we all know, GAI went bankrupt in 2009 after certing thousands of forgeries of Mantle, Williams, DiMaggio, Koufax, etc.

Why Do So Many Think They're Forgeries? Let's find out!

If you're a regular collector like me, it's hard to tell good Mantles from decent forgeries. DiMaggios and Williams are easier, but I'd never buy without an expert opinion. So I thought it would be a great education for those experienced in these autographs—experts and experienced collectors—to show us why they're so widely considered forgeries.

I've included a few of the GAI authenticated photos to start with. Feel free to upload more. Ask questions, share your knowledge...and help make collecting these Hall of Famers safer for everyone!

Look at all this garbage!!!

Forged and mass-produced Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays and Duke Snider photo with a worthless COA from GAI. Pure garbage.

Forged Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams photo. Laughable forgeries.

Forged Mantle, DiMaggio and Williams photo with a worthless COA from GAI. Look at this garbage.

Ugly and laughable forged Mickey Mantle with a worthless COA from GAI. I've observed hundreds of this-style forgery over the years.

Mass-produced forged Mantle, DiMaggio, Mays and Snider photo with a worthless COA from GAI. Ugly.

Forged and mass-produced Mickey Mantle. Ugly and laughable.

Forged Mantle, Williams and DiMaggio photo with a worthless COA from GAI. Horrid-looking forgeries.

Forged and mass-produced Mantle and Williams forgeries. Worthless COA from GAI and Mike Baker.

Forged and mass-produced forged Mickey Mantle photo. Pathetic.

This is one of dozens forged Mickey Mantle business cards that were "authenticated" by GAI and Mike Baker. Pure garbage.

GAI (Mike Baker) "authenticated" hundreds of Mickey Mantle forgeries on the below image.

Laughable Mantle forgery.

Here is a mass-produced set of Mantle and Williams forgeries.

GAI "authenticated" thousands of forgeries before they went bankrupt in 2009.

Tags: authenticate, authentication, baseball., dimaggio, forgeries, gai, genuine, global, hall, joe, More…

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Permalink Reply by Carl Ryan on April 23, 2013 at 7:08pm

Does GA give refunds for bad GAI items? I have always wondered how the company being taken over and renamed has affected past certed items.

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Permalink Reply by Mykaphobic on April 23, 2013 at 7:12pm

No they just make it very clear they are seperate entities and that they are only helping GAI customers by keeping their data base running.

I also had an in person or "witnessed" GAI autograph once and GA told me that there was never any evidence that a GAI staff member attending the signing so GA would not enter that item into the database.

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Permalink Reply by CJCollector on June 6, 2013 at 4:06pm

This crap that GAI certed will continue to infect the hobby forever.

Look at this piece-of-crap Mickey Mantle & Joe DiMaggio forgeries listed by Ebay seller Miahurricane2433.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190851747509

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Permalink Reply by Null on June 7, 2013 at 10:00am

Here is a piece of crap listed by eBay seller bbcardconnection that is ending in 1 hour. 19 bids up to $150 right now. I'm sure this will probably sell:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TED-WILLIAMS-JOE-DIMAGGIO-Autographed-Signe...

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Permalink Reply by John Spillane on March 28, 2019 at 1:30pm

I was just on eBay, today and I recognized a forgery that resembled something that Steve C.had posted about, way back in March of 2011. The same picture. The same Global authentics certification number. 391799. It's the first picture that Steve C.posted that matches the exact same one posted on eBay, right now for $1,000. Eight years later. Still circling around. https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%...