How to spot fake trading cards

Wherever a card is worth money, someone will try to copy it. Counterfeits range from crude fakes that fall apart at a glance to careful reproductions that need a second look. The good news is that most fakes fail simple checks you can do at home with a lamp, a magnifier and a genuine card from the same game to compare against. This guide goes through those checks, from the quickest to the more detailed.

Compare with a genuine card first

The most useful tool you can have is a card you know is real, ideally from the same game, the same era and the same kind of finish (non-foil next to non-foil, holo next to holo). Almost every check below is a comparison: fakes are rarely wrong in a way you can spot on their own, but they are usually different from the real thing when you hold both side by side.

Keep in mind that genuine printings also vary. Different print runs, languages and eras can have slightly different colours, borders or card stock. One odd detail is a reason to look closer, not proof on its own. The more checks a card fails, the more likely it is a fake.

The light test

Hold the card up to a bright light, such as a phone torch in a dark room, and compare how much light passes through it with a genuine card.

Both The Pokémon Company and Wizards of the Coast mention this test, and their notes show why comparison matters. The Pokémon Company says counterfeit Pokémon cards are often easy to see through when held up to a bright light. Wizards of the Coast's guidance for Magic describes it from the other direction: genuine non-foil Magic cards let some light through, and the fakes it describes let little or none through. Either way, the point is the comparison — a card that reacts very differently from a genuine one of the same type deserves a closer look.

Print quality under a loupe

Trading cards are printed as patterns of tiny coloured dots. Under a jeweller's loupe or a phone camera's macro mode, a genuine card shows a fine, regular pattern, and small text stays crisp. Wizards of the Coast notes that, with enough magnification, genuine Magic cards show a distinctive pattern in their colour dots, which is a useful point of comparison.

What to look for:

• Blurry or soft text, especially the small print at the bottom of the card (copyright line, set information, artist name).
• A muddy or irregular dot pattern compared with a genuine card.
• Pixelation or jagged lines, which can mean the card was printed from a scanned image.
• Misspellings or wrong wording. Spelling mistakes in names, attacks or rules text are a common giveaway.

Card stock, colours and the back

Feel and edges

Genuine cards have a particular stiffness and finish that is hard to copy exactly. Compare the suspect card with a real one:

• Stiffness. Wizards of the Coast notes that genuine Magic packs barely bend when arched gently, while counterfeit ones bend easily. The same comparison is useful for single cards — gently, with a card you are allowed to handle.
• Surface finish. A card that feels too glossy, too waxy or too rough compared with genuine cards of the same finish is suspicious.
• Edges. Look at the edge of the card from the side. Wizards describes counterfeit Magic cards with white protrusions on the edges that show up as a visible line when cards are stacked. Wizards also notes that a torn genuine Magic card shows a blue or black line at the tear, depending on the product. That is a destructive test: never tear a card you want to keep or sell.
• Size. Put the card on top of a genuine one. Any difference in size or corner shape is a warning sign.

Colours, fonts and the back of the card

The back of a card is identical across a whole game, which makes it one of the best places to compare.

• Colour. Wizards of the Coast notes that counterfeits often have noticeably wrong colours, and points in particular to the word "Magic" on the back of the card. Compare the shade of the back and the front borders with a real card under the same light.
• Fonts and symbols. Compare the typeface, the size of the text, the set symbol and the energy, mana or attribute symbols. Counterfeits often use a close but different font or slightly misplaced elements.
• Holo and foil. A genuine foil has a consistent pattern that moves with the light. A flat, dull or oddly coloured foil, or a foil pattern in a place where the genuine card has none, is a warning sign.

Prices that are too good to be true

Price is often the first clue, before you even see the card. The Pokémon Company says that a pack priced dramatically below its suggested retail price is a near certain warning sign of counterfeit product, and that flea markets are where it receives the most reports of counterfeit sales. The same logic applies to single cards: a rare card offered far below what copies normally sell for, especially by a seller with no history, deserves suspicion.

Other signs worth noting: photos that look like stock images rather than the actual card, a seller who will not send extra photos, and pressure to pay quickly or outside the platform you are buying on.

Graded cards and slabs

Buying a graded card adds a layer of protection, but slabs can be faked too, and a genuine holder can in principle be tampered with. Check the holder as well as the card.

CGC Cards, for example, says its labels carry microprinting, UV ink, holographic foil and a unique certification number and barcode, and that a QR code on the back of the label lets you look up the card and its images on the CGC website. Before buying a graded card from any company:

• Look up the certification number on the grading company's official website and check that the card, set, grade and images match the one in the photos.
• Compare the label and holder with genuine examples from the same company and period: fonts, logo, hologram and the finish of the plastic.
• Be wary of a seller who will not show the certification number or the back of the slab.

If you think you bought a fake

Stop handling the card, keep the packaging and take clear photos of the front, back and any suspicious details next to a genuine card. Wizards of the Coast notes that it does not replace counterfeit cards and does not offer a card verification service, and The Pokémon Company suggests that local shops specialising in trading cards may be able to evaluate a card for you. If you bought the card through a marketplace, use its dispute process: on CardTrading, see buyer protection.