The PSA grading scale: what each grade from 1 to 10 means
Grading companies score a card from 1 to 10 on its centering, corners, sides and surface. A 10 is Gem Mint and a 9 is Mint. The gap in price between those two is often the largest on the whole scale.
Which grade is on the label?
10
Gem Mint.
- Sharp corners, clean surface, centering inside the standard.
- The grade collectors pay most for, by a wide margin.
9
Mint.
- One small flaw: a touch of whitening, or centering a little off.
- On most modern cards a 9 sells for a fraction of a 10.
8
Near Mint to Mint.
- Light wear on a corner or two, or a faint surface mark.
- A strong grade for a card from before 2003.
7
Near Mint.
- Wear you can see on a close look.
- Common for old cards kept in a binder.
5 or 6
Excellent.
- Corners starting to round, light scratches, some whitening.
- Still a tidy card at arm's length.
1 to 4
Good to Poor.
- Creases, heavy wear or damage.
- Graded mostly to prove a rare old card is real.
Authentic
Real, with no number.
- The card is genuine but was not given a grade.
- Used for altered or badly damaged cards.
- 10 is Gem Mint, 9 is Mint, 8 is Near Mint to Mint, 7 is Near Mint.
- Four things are judged: centering, corners, sides and surface.
- The lowest of the four holds the grade down.
- PSA gives half grades from 1.5 to 8.5. There is no PSA 9.5.
- The same number from different companies does not sell for the same price.
What each grade is worth for one card today
One card, from our own card data, read today: Charizard 4 (Base Set).
Every card's page has this ladder for six grading companies.
The whole scale
| Grade | Name | What it allows |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Gem Mint | A card with no flaw you can find without a loupe. |
| 9 | Mint | One small flaw. |
| 8 | Near Mint to Mint | Slight wear on a corner or two. |
| 7 | Near Mint | Light wear visible on a close look. |
| 6 | Excellent to Mint | Visible wear, a light scratch. |
| 5 | Excellent | Corners starting to round. |
| 4 | Very Good to Excellent | Rounded corners, light creasing. |
| 3 | Very Good | Creases and clear wear. |
| 2 | Good | Heavy wear and creasing. |
| 1 | Poor | Damage. The card is whole and real. |
How other companies differ
| Company | What is different |
|---|---|
| BGS | Four subgrades on the label. A Pristine 10 and a Black Label sit above its 9.5. |
| CGC | A Pristine 10 above its Gem Mint 10. |
| TAG | A score out of 1,000 behind each grade, from a machine scan. |
| ACE | Whole grades from 1 to 10. Graded in Britain. |
| SGC | A Pristine 10 above its Gem Mint 10. |
A 10 from one company is not a 10 from another. Our card pages price each company's slabs apart.
Our free binderEvery company's slab, priced apartAdd a graded card to our binder and pick its company and grade. The price follows.Open My Binders →Which grade is worth chasing
On modern cards the money is in the 10. On cards from before 2003 a 7 or an 8 can already be worth a great deal.
Our grading guide does the sum for real cards, and our centering calculator checks the first hurdle.
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Common questions
What does PSA 10 mean?
Gem Mint, the top grade. The card has sharp corners, a clean surface and centering inside PSA's standard. It is the grade collectors pay most for.
What is the difference between PSA 9 and PSA 10?
A 9 allows one small flaw, such as a touch of whitening or centering a little off. On modern cards a 10 often sells for several times a 9.
Is a PSA 8 good?
For a card from before 2003, yes. Few old cards survive that clean. For a modern card an 8 often sells for less than the raw card plus the fee.
Does PSA give half grades?
Yes, from 1.5 to 8.5, for a card that sits between two grades. There is no 9.5 at PSA. Beckett and CGC do give a 9.5.
Is a BGS 9.5 the same as a PSA 10?
Collectors treat them as close, and the prices differ card by card. Our card pages show what each company's slab sells for.
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