When people buy a rare object, they’re also purchasing a narrative. Often, they’re mainly purchasing a narrative. So, say there’s a rare baseball card and a famous athlete acquires it and adds his cachet to the item. And then it’s discovered that the card he purchased was (perhaps) tampered with before he bought it to make it seem more mint. Does the card lose some of its value, hold it or even become more valuable because of the supposed ruse? What is it that is actually being bought or sold?

Watch Nick and Colin Barnicle’s short film “Holy Grail: The T206 Honus Wagner” at Grantland.