Card Grading

What is card grading?

Card grading is the evaluation of the physical condition of a card. When a card is graded by a professional 3rd party grading company, there are four areas of the card evaluated. These four areas are:

Each professional grading company grades to the specific standards of that company. Some companies are considered to be tougher than others. There are been dozens of companies created with the intent of grading cards. The hobby has separated grading companies into tiers. The top tier major grading companies are:

Major Grading Companies

Other grading companies are considered to be second tier companies.

Other Grading Companies

CTA Grading Experts
CEX Certified Express
KSA Sport Card Certification Service
Pro Spor ts Grading
Professional Grading Service
Sportscard Guarantee
WCG World Class Grading, Inc.
TFA The Final Authority
NASA - North American Sportscard Authenticators
MINT - Mint Grading Service
FGS - Finest Grading Service

Grading Scales

Condition	BGS	GAI	PSA	SGC	Other
Pristine	10	10	-	100	-
Gem Mint	9.5	9.5	10	98	10
Near Gem	-	-	-	-	9.8
Mint+	-	-	-	-	9.5
Mint	9	9	9	96	9
Near Mint/Mint+	8.5	8.5	-	92	8.5
Near Mint/Mint	8	8	8	88	8
Near Mint+	7.5	7.5	-	86	7.5
Near Mint	7	7	7	84	7
Excellent Mint+	6.5	6.5	-	-	6.5
Excellent Mint	6	6	6	80	6
Excellent+	5.5	5.5	-	70	5.5
Excellent	5	5	5	60	5
Very Good/Excellent+	4.5	4.5	-	-	4.5
Very Good/Excellent	4	4	4	50	4
Very Good+	3.5	3.5	-	-	3.5
Very Good	3	3	3	40	3
Good/Very Good	2.5	2.5	-	-	2.5
Good	2	2	2	30	2
Fair	1.5	1.5	-	20	1.5
Poor	1	1	1	10	1

Every collector should know some of the basics of card grading in order to make wise purchasing decisions. Some of the basics are:

Grading Basics

Centering

Centering is the measurement of the position of the cards image. A perfectly centered card is where the card's image is aligned exactly where the card company intended to be. Centering can be quickly judged by the naked eye. A border that is just slightly less than even on both sides of the card would measure 55/45. If one border is twice the size of the other, that equates to approximately 65/35.

Because centering is an important element of the overall eye appeal of the card, centering can be a major factor in the cards overall grade.

Corners

Along with centering, the corners are one of the most important areas of a card when grading. A dinged corner drops a card's aesthetic value like a rock. To achieve a superior corner grade of GemMint or better, each corner must be blazingly sharp. Study your card's corners under magnification using a loupe. A 10x loupe is good for card grading. If the corners are all sharp to the naked eye, you are probably safe with a mint or higher corner. Once a speck of wear is visible, or a bump can be seen, the grade starts dropping fast.

Always look very carefully around the whole corner not just the very tip. Often there may be an actual crease or bump across the corner, which may be difficult to detect at first, but once seen, becomes obvious. If any corner shows a bend or crease or other noticeable wear, the corner grade will likely drop to near mint or lower.

Edges

Unless heavily damaged, edges are often treated with general disregard by collectors. In reality, edges reveal more than just a grade- they are usually the key are in determining trimming or other alterations.

Edges indicate how well the card was cut at the factory. While allowances are made for certain types of factory-cut edges such as O-Pee-Chee cards, the quality of the cut is taken into account to some extent. When it comes to after-market damage, the grading process is not as lenient. Chipping and notching that occurs after the card has been cut and packaged at the factory is weighed more heavily than factory problems in determining edge grades. Any large chip or notch in an edge is quite distracting and can lower the grade proportionately. To earn mint or better grades, the edges must be clean and sharp.

Surface

It cannot be overstated how critical it is to examine the front and back surfaces closely before submitting cards. Many surface flaws are hidden at first glance. Upon close scruntiny, scratches, creases, print dots, blisters and stains become more obvious. Pulling a card fresh from a pack or factory set does not mean there will be no major surface problems. On the contrary, never assume the surface is free from defects.

Inspect your card outside of the holder. Hold it close to a bright light source. A simple 75-watt desk lamp will work fine. Using only the naked eye, rotate the card to catch all of the angles in the light. Scratches and scuffs that you might have otherwise overlooked can become apparent. Aside from catastrophic damage (thumb-tack holes, tape, staples, etc), creases and heavy stains are often the most crippling to a card's grade. Even the smallest crease can lower the surface grade to a 4 or less, and, most typically, closer to a 2. Other forms of surface damage include machine indentations and roller marks, paper flaws/wrinkles, print dots or streaks and blisters or pockmarks.

Doctoring and alterations

One of the biggest problems in the hobby today is card doctoring and alterations. When something is done to a card to try to improve the condition, this is called doctoring. A few of the most common alterations are:

Trimming
Recoloring
PowerErasing
Pressing
Soaking/cleaning
Jersey/patch swatch relacement
AutographRecoloring /retracing

Grading Supplies

Card Saver I

These are a semi-rigid holder that BGS suggest you ship your cards in. I have always used these with no problems at all, and I would also suggest you use these if you plan on sending in cards to BGS or any other grading company. I buy these from Cardboard Gold and I love the quality of these holders; the direct link is: CardSavers

Flash Magnifier

If you’re serious into grading cards and getting good grades I would suggest getting a Flash Magnifier as it is a must have item. This is usually a 10x magnifier with a light, but is hand held so you can take it with you anywhere.

Grading Questions

Q: I don’t have a Submission form; where can I get one?

A: You can go to the Grading Tab of Beckett.com to find one.

Q: How should I pack my cards to ship to be graded?

A: To pack the cards how BGS suggest use the link on Beckett.com/grading

Q: How much does it cost to get a card graded using BGS?

A: Between $25 per card and $8 per card depeing on how fast you want them back. You must know these prices don’t include the FedEx shipping charges or insurance fees that also must be included.

Q: Must I send my cards in Card Savers?

A: The answer to this is no; but I would highly suggest it. BGS recommends the use of CardSavers and so do I. For thick cards as of right now I would suggest sending them in a Pro-Mold 1 Touch or another type of Magnetic or Screwdown.

Q: What does RCR and GCR mean?

A: RCR is short for RawCardReview meaning BGS reviews the card then you can send it in at a later date to be graded and slabbed. People do this to save some money and to find out the grade without sending it in to BGS.

GCR is short for GradedCardReview meaning you can send BGS any graded card from either them or another grading company and they will review this card to see if it deserves a higher grade or to be crossed over to a BGS case.

Q: How do I send in a RCR to get encased?

A: All you do for this is fill out the submission form for the cards you want to send in and then send them in like normal. They will charge you the full grading fee as the card has only been reviewed not graded yet. They will then grade the card, and encase it in a slab.

Q: Can I get a RCR or GCR done through the mail?

A: You can get a GCR done through the mail but not a RCR. BGS only offers the RCR service at shows, but does offer the GCR service through the mail. To do the GCR you will need to fill out a submission form for the card and pay with a credit card and you will have to fill out a waiver for BGS to take the card out of the case. This must be filled out even if the card is already graded by BGS. You can get the form by e-mailing BGS@beckett.com.

Q: How do I break a card out of the case without damaging the card inside?

A: This is pretty easy to do, but still takes time and you must be careful or you will damage your card.

Q: Does it matter how I send my cards to BGS?

A: No it doesn't matter what service you use to send to BGS. They will require you to use FedEx for the shipping back to you but you can send them to BGS using any carrier. I would suggest getting insurance and a tracking number with whatever carrier you choose. This way you have proof you sent them if they come up missing.

Q: How do I find out if my card will fit in a normal BGS case or the thick BGS case?

A: This is actually easy to find out. Stack 5 regular thickness cards together and if those 5 are thicker then your card will fit in a normal BGS case; the your card is thicker then the 5 cards it will have to go in the thicker BGS case.