Email from NASA (Part II)
Written By T206museum.com (June, 2001)
The following article is copied and pasted from an email the President of NASA,
Guy Stopard, sent to us on June 8, 2001.
"Hello, I am the owner of NASA Grading... the article you have submitted is a true article.
When I first started I
was approached with a Wagner card from Joe Strong, not knowing how to authenticate it I tried checking
around with little success...the newspaper somehow found out and asked if they could take a picture and
write an article, which Mr. Strong agreed to. Later it was put on Ebay and received a bid of $15000.00 from an
auction house in the US. I told them I could not authenticate the card and it would be removed from the
case. They said if I could put a 1 on it they would give Mr. Strong $15000.00 and myself $5000.00 for bringing it
to them. I told them after receiving numerous pictures of the Honus Wagner card I didn't believe it was real and
would not grade it, as it was in my posession. The card was then taken out of the case and is not graded nor
will it be, at least not by us. Mr. Strong still has it."
"The other Wagner that I just graded a 1 and did not
authenticate, I believe it to be real. However as I stated I could be wrong. I have never admitted to being an
authority on the Wagner card. I only graded the condition of the card and gave a personal opinion, which I
clearly stated. I have never been accused of giving higher grades than which an article deserves, infact the
opposite. I would never grade an altered or trimmed card. I have tried to maintain the highest of integrity in all
my dealings. I can give you reference after reference if you would like. I have a great respect for the industry. I
have been collecting for many years and know what dishonesty can do in the business. I have since decided
to never grade a card for condition alone. This has been an eye opener for me and I hope because of it my
service will be better. But I still believe I did nothing wrong as I explained myself in documenting what I
did....Thank you for reading this and if you would like to contact me or if anyone else would concerning this
matter (and no one has) I did have one phone call asking if I would grade another and I said it would have to
be proved 100% genuine. They never sent it. I also had one phone call asking about the last card up for
auction I again told them I would not authenticate it and explained why and gave him my personal
opinion. For this my business is being trashed...How many complaints have other graders had and no one is
trashing them in such a manner. Again please contact me if you need any further
information...Respectfully, Guy Stopard."
RELATED ARTICLES:
Learning Centre - T206 Counterfeit Detection
Periodical - Part I -- Wagner graded by NASA
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