If you’ve been paying attention, you’d have noticed the massive wave of Pokémon nostalgia going on right now – including a surge in demand for Pokémon cards.
Perhaps you remember those days growing up. Collecting your favourite Pokémon cards, watching the TV series, and perhaps playing the very first games on the Nintendo 64 or Game Boy when they were released.
Imagine then, all of a sudden, finding your cards and discovering that the deck is in the same condition as it was ten years ago?
The thought has no doubt crossed your mind – perhaps you should get your Pokémon cards graded. They could be worth much more money than you realise.
Below, we’ll outline the basic of card grading, and what you need to know as you begin this adventure.
What is Pokémon card grading?
Pokémon card grading refers to the process of a professional grading company valuing the condition of your cards.
Generally, the better the condition, the better the ‘grade’. A grade is usually a score expressed out of 10.
Factors affecting the grade of your Pokémon card
There are various factors that will determine the value of your Pokémon card, including its:
- Surface – If there are any scratches, nicks, a bleed of the holographic or even a print line on your card’s surface, this can affect its value.
- Corners – if there are any nicks, odd cuttings, fraying or even any whitening of the corners, your card value will be downgraded.
- Centring – how ‘centred’ the artwork on your card is will determine its value. This is especially important for the front of the card. Professional grading companies will use a ‘centring ratio’ to analyse your card grade.
- Edges – similar to the corners, if a grading company sees any edgewear, whitening or nicks, you can expect a downgrade.
List of Pokémon card grading companies
The main Pokémon card grading companies include:
- Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA)
- Beckett Grading Services (BGS)
- Certified Guaranty Company (CGC)
These are the major players in the Pokémon card grading industry. Each scale is generally numbered 1-10 , with 10 being virtually the perfect card.
Below, we’ll outline who these companies are and what their scales are.
Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA)
PSA is undoubtedly the most popular company to grade Pokémon cards In fact, they became so popular that they temporarily stopped taking in cards in early 2021 as they couldn’t keep up with the influx.
PSA Card Grading Scale
- 10 – Gem Mint (PSA GEM-MT 10)
- 9 – Mint (PSA MT 9)
- 8 – Near Mint-Mint (PSA NM-MT 8)
- 7 – Near Mint (PSA NM 7)
- 6 – Excellent-Mint (PSA EX-MT 6)
- 5 – Excellent (EX 5)
- 4 – Very Good-Excellent (PSA VG-EX 4)
- 3 – Very Good (PSA VG 3)
- 2 – Good (PSA GOOD 2)
- 1 – Poor (PSA PR 1)
You can read further detail about the full PSA scale here.
Beckett Grading Services (BGS)
BGS was originally created as a pricing guide for card collecting, but they started to grade cards in 2021.
They are most renowned for Magic The Gathering card grading, although BGS 10 is highly regarded amongst Pokémon card collectors.
BGS Card Grading Scale
The BGS card grading system is slightly more detailed than PSA.
- 10 (BGS 10 Pristine)
- 5 (BGS 9.5 Gem Mint)
- 9 (BGS 9 Mint)
- 5 (BGS 8.5 Near Mint-Mint +)
- 8 (BGS 8 Near Mint-Mint)
- 5 (BGS 7.5 Near Mint +)
- 7 (BGS 7 Near Mint)
- 5 (BGS 6.5 Excellent-Near Mint Plus) – EX-NM+
- 6 (BGS 6 Excellent-Near Mint)
- 5 (BGS 5 Excellent Plus) – EX +
- 5 (BGS 5 Excellent)
- 5 (BGS 4.5 Very Good-Excellent Plus) – VG-EX+
- 4 (BGS 5 Very Good-Excellent) – VG-EX
- 5 (BGS 3.5 Very Good Plus) – VG+
- 3 (BGS 3 Very Good) – VG
- 5 (BGS 2.5 Good Plus) – G+
- 2 (BGS 2 Good) – G
- 5 (Fair)
- 1 (Poor)
Certified Guaranty Company (CGC)
CGC is the newest out of the three card grading companies. They began doing comic book grading at around the same times as the other companies entered the grading scene. But CGC only started to grade cards in 2020.
But their young age doesn’t make them any less reputable.
CGC Card Grading Scale
CGC’s scale is arguably more detailed than the PSA and BGS scales
- 10 Gem Mint
- 9 Mint
- 8 NM/M
- 6 NM+
- 4 NM
- 2 NM –
- 0 VF/NM
- 5 VF+
- 5 VF –
- 0 FN/VF
- 0 FN
- 5 FN+
- 5 FN –
- 0 VG/FN
- 5 VG+
- 0 VG
- 5 VG-
- 0 G/VG
- 5 G
- 0 G
- 8 G-
- 5 Fa/G
- 0 Fa
- 5 Poor
You can read more about the CGC Grading Scale here.
Continue your Pokémon card journey with us
If you’re keen to learn more about Pokemon card grading, get in touch with our expert collector team at TAG.
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Or get your free TAG Collector membership and join our one-of-a-kind community of passionate collectors.
