Question about graded card authenticity

[alvintanmd]

Hi,
Are all graded cards authentic? Can a fake card be slipped into the graded card holder without anybody knowing? Or can we safely say that any PSA/BGS graded cards are authentic without question? Are PSA and BGS graded card quality different? I am planning to buy or trade for a MJ 1986 RC. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

[gatorboymike]

It is possible to remove a card from a graded card holder and insert a new one, but it's easy to see when someone has done that if you know what to look for. The way people do it is by taking an X-acto knife or other cutting tool and running it along the separation of the two halves of the holder (usually along the bottom). Then they tap it until the graded card falls out, and insert a new one where it was. So theoretically you could buy a graded card and still get a counterfeit. Examine the holder when you get it...if you can run a fingernail along the outside and slip it between the panels, or if the panels are heavily scratched near the separation, or you can see they have been sloppily glued together, you're dealing with a fake. But just to make sure you don't have a fake that was made by a professional, you should be familiar with how a fake card is different from a real one. There should be a link on this site to a page that tells you how to spot a counterfeit.

[alvintanmd]

Thanks. Are Beckett and PSA grading the same meaning is a PSA 8 the same as a BGS 8?

[jobsori]

From my personal experience, BGS is much tougher than PSA.

PSA 10 = BGS 9.5 or even BGS 9