Will my card grade a PSA Gem Mint 10?
When looking through your card collection, you may think that a card of yours would grade high and be worth big money. But what do the grading companies look for in a card that make it deserve a Gem Mint 10?
In a 2024 interview, Nat Turner the CEO of Collectors Holding, the parent company of PSA, stated that they are using a “mostly human” grading process at PSA. While the decision of the final grade will be left to the human grader, they are using some automated processes that judge certain aspects of a card like centering. Mr. Turner stated that the graders are being automatically prompted of a “maximum possible grade” if a card failed to fall in the proper tolerances for centering (which is listed as 60/40 on the front and 75/25 on the back.)
If you know what the graders are looking for, you can better manage expectations.
There are four main features of a card that are evaluated when grading. They are Centering, Corners, Edges, and Surface.
Centering and Surface are two things completely out of your control even if you pull a card fresh from a pack yourself. Understand though that if a card is significantly off-centered or has dimples, creases, or worse, paper loss, it will not grade high.
Take for example this Ken Griffey Jr. insert I recently pulled out of a pack of 1995 Pinnacle.
1995 Pinnacle Artist's Proof #128 Ken Griffey Jr. "Big Bubble"
This card is an rare insert from the 1990s of a very popular Hall of Fame player. Only 41 copies of this card have ever been graded by PSA, with only 7 of those examples receiving a perfect PSA Gem Mint 10. There have been two sales of a PSA 10 in 2024, one sold on eBay in auction for $2,030 and the other sold as a “Buy it now” for $3000.
Needless to say I was excited pulling such a rare insert from a pack I paid less than $1 for…until I took a closer look.
Paper loss on a glossy 1990s insert
The grading companies do not rely on the naked eye to evaluate cards, they use very strong lighting, and look at a card at various angles at 10x magnification. Almost nothing gets past the graders. Knowing this, you should also evaluate your cards under 10x magnification and strong lighting before submitting. Make sure to look at the card at different angles to identify dimples, wrinkles, or in this case, paper loss.
These 1995 Pinnacle cards were very glossy and at the time I got the pack, had been sitting in a box for almost 30 years. When I sorted through the cards, they we all stuck together to some degree, a issue common in some mid to late 90s cards known as “bricking”. When I pulled this Griffey card apart from the card in front of it, some of the paper from the Griffey card was ripped of and stuck onto the other card.
If you look closely at the area inside the red circle, you will see a small grey splotch. Upon 10x magnifcation, it is clear that the surface of the card was missing some of its original paper.
Going by vintage cards that have great eye appeal but are missing paper, I would think PSA would give this card at best a PSA 1.5, if not a PSA 1 or simply a grade of “Authentic”.
It is still a cool and very rare card. In fact, since I haven’t been able to find an online sale of this card in raw (ungraded) condition, I can’t be sure of it’s value. I plan to list it for sale in the $200-$300 range but since I was able to evaluate it as the graders would, I am saving myself the trouble and expense of submitting it, waiting a few months only to get it back in a very low grade, and needing to crack it out and sell it raw anyway.
Always take a close look at your valuable cards but remember the graders are trained to look for what’s wrong with your card, and if there is a flaw, they will likely find it. Its not population control as some claim, it’s quality control.
When selling your cards individually or as a whole collection, be mindful that condition plays a major factor in how much you can expect to receive.
If you have any questions about evaluating your cards, feel free to reach out to me at:
Sam@845SportsCards.com
