X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is a technique that is beginning to have a large impact on the baseball card collecting hobby. While XRF has been used for decades in other fields like archaeology and metallurgy, it is just within the last few years that collectors have begun leveraging this analytical technique to gain useful insights into their baseball card collections. XRF allows collectors to authenticate cards in an objective, non-destructive way and has the potential to redefine the grading process.
XRF works by detecting the fluorescent (or secondary) X-ray emissions from a target sample bombarded with high-energy X-rays or gamma rays. Each element has its own unique atomic structure, which allows uniquely identifying characteristics in the form of emitted X-ray wavelengths. By analyzing the emitted X-ray spectrum, the elemental composition of the target sample can be determined both qualitatively and quantitatively. This elemental “fingerprint” can then be used for identification and authentication purposes.
In the realm of baseball cards, XRF is primarily being used to analyze paper stock. Early baseball cards from the 1880s-1950s were printed on a variety of non- standard papers that varied greatly in composition between manufacturers, time periods, subsets, and parallel print runs. Analyzing a card’s paper composition via XRF can determine if it matches a genuine vintage card. This is helping curb forgeries, as reproductions are often printed on modern stock that does not align with the elemental signatures of true vintage papers.
Additionally, XRF can discern between parallel print runs of the same card issue that intentionally contained different papers to confuse counterfeiters at the time. For example, some 1951 Bowman color cards exist in paper stocks with different elemental abundances in zinc, chlorine, titanium and other elements. Knowing there are identifiable compositional differences is critical authentication information that XRF has revealed.
The implementation of XRF into the hobby is still in its early stages, but it shows great promise to revolutionize grading standards. Currently, paper analysis via visual inspection or microscope is inadequate for definitively authenticating or identifying parallel print runs of vintage cards. With XRF, grading services can develop authenticated paper composition baselines on known genuine examples and objectively compare submitted cards to these standards.
A card found to have the wrong paper stock composition compared to examples in the authenticated baseline could be flagged as potentially forged, avoiding one of the more difficult areas to discern visually. This also has implications for potentially re-grading cards in the future if their claimed print run/parallel can be corroborated or refuted through XRF analysis. With more data collection over time, XRF physical matching may become an integral new standard in the hobby’s quest for objective authentication practices.
At present, only a few key grading services such as PSA and SGC have integrated limited XRF capabilities into their authentication process on select older issues. This remains an emerging technology that has not yet been widely adopted across the whole hobby. Challenges still exist in building out the reference databases needed and determining where exactly XRF fits best within existing grading methodologies and standards.
Cost is another barrier currently limiting more widespread adoption, as laboratory-grade XRF equipment is expensive. Portable XRF guns are being developed which could drive costs down and allow field analysis. As technology progresses, it is possible that advanced XRF matching may even lead to new authentication/insurance standards beyond simple grading labels on slabbed cards.
There is little doubt that XRF will substantially change theAUTHENTICATION process in coming years. While re-grading of existing cards may prove difficult, new submissions can potentially be objectively analyzed against established paper composition baselines. This represents a huge leap in comprehensively addressing one of the most problematic areas – paper forgeries on pre-1960s issues. With appropriate database development and standardized application, XRF has the potential to provide an entirely new level of authentication certainty to the hobby. While challenges remain to be addressed, collectors can be hopeful that emerging analytical techniques like X-ray fluorescence will lead to a more authentic and secure marketplace.
