1920-21 W516 Strip Card Set

The W516 Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth cards have mysteriously been popular for counterfeiters of late.  Here I'll post a few recent copies I've come across to help you distinguish a real W516 from a fake.

Here's a recent W516 Ruth that was posted on eBay.  This one was thankfully labeled as a 'reprint' however many of them are not.  (Note the screw-down holder is often a good sign of a fake).

You can almost tell how new this card is by looking at the edges.  Just tell-tale signs of artificial cutting and rounded edges.  Also that white on the bottom left corner is a sign that the newer paper is showing through.  Could get a much better idea with a black-light and microscope.  (See our article on counterfeit cards for more tips on spotting a fake).

Here's a shot of a real W516 Ruth:

Hard to sort of see from this picture, but there are a lot of print dots and irregular splotches of ink which is quite common on early strip cards.  A newer fake has more uniformity and consistency in printing which is a key to idenitifying under magnification. 

You can see more in our video below on examining W516 Strip Cards