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David Cycleback

About David Cycleback

David Cycleback is an art and artifacts historian and an internationally known authentication expert. He has authenticated artifacts for major institutions, was a writer for the standard academic reference Encyclopedia of Nineteenth Century Photography, and teaches courses in art authentication. Reprinted by Beijing's Three Shadows Art Center, his guides "Judging the Authenticity of Prints by the Masters" and "Judging the Authenticity of Photographs" were the first comprehensive books on the subjects published in China. He can be reached at [email protected].

Photos Through the Telephone: A History and Guide to Wirephotos

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For early 1900s newspapers and magazines, there was no overnight national distribution of images. News photographs were shipped by plane, train and even boat. While this was okay for the many popular monthly magazines, most early daily newspapers had relatively few images and fewer still that were dated. While turn of the century news services could send the printed text … [Read more...] about Photos Through the Telephone: A History and Guide to Wirephotos

How to Date Real Photo Postcards

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Real photo postcards are postcards with genuine photographic images on the front. They are actual photographs on photopaper, but designed to be mailed and have letters written on the back. As with all photographs, if you examine the images under strong magnification the you'll see no dot or other printed ink patterns. Popular in the early to mid 1900s, real photo postcards … [Read more...] about How to Date Real Photo Postcards

Tips for Identifying Authentic Vintage News Photos

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Vintage news photos are a highly popular area of collecting these days, but many collectors and sellers have difficulty knowing if that photo of Babe Ruth, Red Grange or Greta Garbo is vintage or a modern reproduction. As you'll likely expect, a later reprint will be worth a small fraction of the original. While authenticating photographs involves examining many aspects of … [Read more...] about Tips for Identifying Authentic Vintage News Photos

How to Use a Black Light to Identify Reprints and Fakes of Antique Paper Collectibles

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For collectors of pre-World War II paper memorabilia—whether it’s sports cards, photographs, scorecards, postcards, advertising posters or booklets— there is a sophisticated yet inexpensive and easy to use tool for quickly identifying many modern reprints and fakes. This tool is called a longwave ultraviolet light, better known as a black light. While there are many uses for … [Read more...] about How to Use a Black Light to Identify Reprints and Fakes of Antique Paper Collectibles

A Guide to Early Mounted Photographs

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Nearly all 1800s paper photographic prints are mounted to cardboard backing, and are commonly called card photographs. A percentage of early 1900s photographs are also mounted as card photographs. The early paper photographic prints were thin and delicate and had to be affixed to a backing. However, the backing also made for an attractive presentation. Early photographs can … [Read more...] about A Guide to Early Mounted Photographs

Not Always Cardboard: Unusual Materials Used to Make Trading Cards

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By tradition, trading cards have been made out of rectangular cardstock. In fact, the dictionary definition of card usually is a rectangular piece of cardstock or heavy paper. However, card companies have at times stretched or radically broken the trading card rules and issued cards, or at least card-related collectibles, using unusual materials and/or different … [Read more...] about Not Always Cardboard: Unusual Materials Used to Make Trading Cards

Collecting Sports Movie Ephemera

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From Raging Bull to Breaking Away a great number of motion pictures since the silent era have been about sports. Further, many sports stars have appeared in movies, some even making multiple appearances, including Babe Ruth, Jim Brown, Sonja Henie and Johnny Weismuller. This column looks at some of the standard types of ephemera from movies, whether it's The Pride of the … [Read more...] about Collecting Sports Movie Ephemera

Vintage Sports Memorabilia Q and A

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The following are answers to assorted questions from the proverbial mail bag. QUESTION: I've heard that collectors sometimes soak old cards in water in order to remove album paper and glue from the backs. Won't the water dissolve off or smear the printing ink? ANSWER: I'm not giving advice whether or not you should or shouldn't soak cards, but I can tell you that old card … [Read more...] about Vintage Sports Memorabilia Q and A

Identifying Precious Metals: Gold, Silver and Platinum

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As precious metals can have high monetary value, this is an area where getting an educated second opinion can be a good idea for a beginner. A jeweler or avid collector can identify and grade the metal for you. However, the avid collector can make a fair judgment about type and quality of previous metal. There are both scientific tests and more informal ways of identifying … [Read more...] about Identifying Precious Metals: Gold, Silver and Platinum

Collecting Frederic Remington’s 1800s American Football Prints

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American artist Frederic Remington (1861-1909) is famed as the preeminent painter and sculptor of the Old American West, with classic and exciting action images of cowboys, American Indians and the Cavalry. Many sports fans familiar with his work, however, don't realize that not only did Remington play football at Yale University, but he made numerous sketches of 19th century … [Read more...] about Collecting Frederic Remington’s 1800s American Football Prints