Not to be a naysayer, but it is possible that the seller could have gotten the envelope canceled in 1989, no matter when the autograph was applied. I think you're running into dangerous ground accusing someone of selling something that's a fake on that basis alone. Personally, I wouldn't have bid on it, because it doesn't have the cred that I would need to place a bid, but to dismiss it due to a postage stamp affixed to it seems a mite unprofessional to me.

I agree with Tim's comments. The fact that the envelope is postmarked after Cobb's death is not, in and of itself, evidence of a fake autograph. For instance, I own a Gateway Commemorative Cachet of Ginger Rogers, which is autographed, and that was postmarked on the day she died. The company simply got blank envelopes autographed, with the plan to have them postmarked at a later date (the anniversary of her Academy Award win). When she died before the anniversary, but after she died of course, Gateway simply got the envelopes postmarked then.

The same thing could have been done with this Cobb envelope. Someone could have taken a previously signed Cobb envelope, and had it postmarked on the 1989 date.

Steve

I agree with Tim's comments. The fact that the envelope is postmarked after Cobb's death is not, in and of itself, evidence of a fake autograph. For instance, I own a Gateway Commemorative Cachet of Ginger Rogers, which is autographed, and that was postmarked on the day she died. The company simply got blank envelopes autographed, with the plan to have them postmarked at a later date (the anniversary of her Academy Award win). When she died before the anniversary, but after she died of course, Gateway simply got the envelopes postmarked then.

The same thing could have been done with this Cobb envelope. Someone could have taken a previously signed Cobb envelope, and had it postmarked on the 1989 date.

Steve

I agree with your comments and did think of that when I wrote this, but the Cobb autograph doesn't look authentic to me and the fact that it sold for only $102 tells me that buyers didn't think it looked legit either.

SCD complaining about fakes on ebay when Coach's Corner ads have dominated their publication for years?

It's good to be concerned about forgeries, but it just looks bad when you harp on this stuff and ignore one of the biggest purveyors of garbage in the hobby.

Please, Steve, take a stand for the hobby, regardless of what the advertisers think. For the sake of all the folks who have bought fake Beatles albums and Josh Gibson signed pants, address this critical hobby issue.

This envelope tells when Cobb died... Isn't that enough to prove that it's a fake?

Nothing gets people upset or as passionate as when they think they got took with something fake.

I truly believe you have to by items with them already authenticated or really know your source.

Ryan
commuinities.vintageauthentics.com

Some of the most recent comments in the is blog are ludicrous. Why would Cobb autograph a postcard with his birth year and year of death? I'm certain the postcard has a dated production year on it, and I bet it isn't 1961!

Also, good points about Coach's Corner. How do they happen to have Hank Greenberg autographed baseball in every auction? I purchased a Jordan autographed basketball from them and then sent it to PSA. Came back bad, however, Coach's Corner gave me a full refund, then relisted the item in their next auction. Never bought anything from them again.

Blogs can be great, and not so great. Cobb autograph is bad, 100% and so is Coach's Corner sigs.

What nearly everyone on here seemingly fails to understand is this: The fact that the envelope is postmarked after Ty Cobb's death, does NOT, in and of itself, mean the Cobb autograph is bad! The autograph may well be bad, but again, it is not because of the postmark.

For instance, I have a plain white (blank) envelope, which is autographed (in person), by Hank Aaron. The ONLY writing/printing/etc on it is Hank's signature. Now.....follow along with me.....somewhere down the road after Hank's death.....the US Postal Service issues a stamp honoring him.....I get the still blank (but authentically autographed) envelope postmarked as a "First Day of Issue" of the stamp...does that make the autograph bad since the autograph is now on an envelope postmarked many years after Hank's death?.....HELL NO!!!!!

The same exact scenario is very possible with this Cobb autograph. Again, I'm not saying the autograph is good; it could be bad. But to rely solely on the fact that the envelope is postmarked after Ty's death is absolutely, totally and completely WRONG!!!!!

Steve Dawson

Steve Dawson,
No kidding, but this is not a BLANK WHITE ENVELOPE... This has more than just a postmark. This has the date of his death ON THE ENVELOPE. Sure, it could have been signed then the birth date and death could have been placed on it with his image, but you are stretching at this point.