A PSA Gem Mint 10 card is a virtually perfect card. Attributes include four perfectly sharp corners, sharp focus and full original gloss. A PSA Gem Mint 10 card must be free of staining of any kind, but an allowance may be made for a slight printing imperfection, if it doesn’t impair the overall appeal of the card. The image must be centered on the card within a tolerance not to exceed approximately 55/45 to 60/40 percent on the front, and 75/25 percent on the reverse.

MINT 9: Mint.

A PSA Mint 9 is a superb condition card that exhibits only one of the following minor flaws: a very slight wax stain on reverse, a minor printing imperfection or slightly off-white borders. Centering must be approximately 60/40 to 65/35 or better on the front and 90/10 or better on the reverse.

NM-MT 8: Near Mint-Mint.

A PSA NM-MT 8 is a super high-end card that appears Mint 9 at first glance, but upon closer inspection, the card can exhibit the following: a very slight wax stain on reverse, slightest fraying at one or two corners, a minor printing imperfection, and/or slightly off-white borders. Centering must be approximately 65/35 to 70/30 or better on the front and 90/10 or better on the reverse.

NM 7: Near Mint.

A PSA NM 7 is a card with just a slight surface wear visible upon close inspection. There may be slight fraying on some corners. Picture focus may be slightly out-of-register. A minor printing blemish is acceptable. Slight wax staining is acceptable on the back of the card only. Most of the original gloss is retained. Centering must be approximately 70/30 to 75/25 or better on the front and 90/10 or better on the back.

EX-MT 6: Excellent-Mint.

A PSA EX-MT 6 card may have visible surface wear or a printing defect which does not detract from its overall appeal. A very light scratch may be detected only upon close inspection. Corners may have slightly graduated fraying. Picture focus may be slightly out-of-register. Card may show some loss of original gloss, may have minor wax stain on reverse, may exhibit very slight notching on edges and may also show some off-whiteness on borders. Centering must be 80/20 or better on the front and 90/10 or better on the reverse.

EX 5: Excellent.

Excellent On PSA EX-5 cards, very minor rounding of the corners is becoming evident. Surface wear or printing defects are more visible. There may be minor chipping on edges. Loss of original gloss will be more apparent. Focus of picture may be slightly out-of-register. Several light scratches may be visible upon close inspection, but do not detract from the appeal of the card. Card may show some off-whiteness of borders. Centering must be 85/15 or better on the front and 90/10 or better on the back.

VG-EX 4: Very Good-Excellent.

A PSA VG-EX 4 card’s corners may be slightly rounded. Surface wear is noticeable but modest. The card may have light scuffing or light scratches. Some original gloss will be retained. Borders may be slightly off-white. A light crease may be visible. Centering must be 85/15 or better on the front and 90/10 or better on the back.

VG 3: Very Good.

A PSA VG 3 card reveals some rounding of the corners, though not extreme. Some surface wear will be apparent, along with possible light scuffing or light scratches. Focus may be somewhat off-register and edges may exhibit noticeable wear. Much, but not all, of the card’s original gloss will be lost. Borders may be somewhat yellowed and/or discolored. A crease may be visible. Printing defects are possible. Slight stain may show on obverse and wax staining on reverse may be more prominent. Centering must be 90/10 or better on the front and back.

GOOD 2: Good.

A PSA Good 2 card’s corners show accelerated rounding and surface wear is starting to become obvious. A good card may have scratching, scuffing, light staining, or chipping of enamel on obverse. There may be several creases. Original gloss may be completely absent. Card may show considerable discoloration. Centering must be 90/10 or better on the front and back.

FR 1.5: Fair.

A PSA Fair 1.5 card’s corners will show extreme wear, possibly affecting framing of the picture. The surface of the card will show advanced stages of wear, including scuffing, scratching, pitting, chipping and staining. The picture will possibly be quite out-of-register and the borders may have become brown and dirty. The card may have one or more heavy creases. In order to achieve a Fair grade, a card must be fully intact. Even though the card may be heavily worn, it cannot achieve this grade if it is missing solid pieces of the card as a result of a major tear, etc. This would include damage such as the removal of the back layer of the card or an entire corner. The centering must be approximately 90/10 or better on the front and back.

PR 1: Poor.

A PSA Poor 1 will exhibit many of the same qualities of a PSA Fair 1.5 but the defects may have advanced to such a serious stage that the eye-appeal of the card has nearly vanished in its entirety. A Poor card may be missing one or two small pieces, exhibit major creasing that nearly breaks through all the layers of cardboard or it may contain extreme discoloration or dirtiness throughout that may make it difficult to identify the issue or content of the card on either the front or back. A card of this nature may also show noticeable warping or another type of destructive defect.

Baseball cards have value for different reasons to different people. When it comes to the value of a baseball card, it is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. With this in mind, you should next visit auction sites to see for how much your card is actually selling. Now one interesting thing you will see is that baseball cards often sell on the auction sites for much less than even the low end book value listed in price guides.

Again, keep in mind, from a monetary perspective a baseball card is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it, i.e. why a baseball card may sell for less on an auction site than what the price guide lists. Of course one way to maintain and/or increase the monetary value of your baseball cards is to have them graded.

Keep in mind that the monetary value of a baseball card can be significantly different from its trading value. Where price guides tend to be particularly helpful is in doing trades. This is because collectors tend to rely more on what the price guides says for an equitable trade.

Or, you can judge what condition your cards are in by yourself. Be honest and as accurate as possible and you just might be able sell more cards to the same person. If a card has soft corners or is faded, you can’t price your card as if it were in mint condition. Word does get around in the baseball card collector’s community about good and bad sellers.

After you have checked your cards over real closely, then you’ll want to get a price guide. This guide tells you approximate values of cards in certain condition. A great majority of baseball card collectors own these guides, so when pricing your cards, be ready to get a variety of offers for cards you want to sell.

You’ll want to do some research when pricing your cards. Find out what the same card has been selling for in a number of different places. Then you can adjust your price by whether your card is in better or worse shape. Price cards according to the market.

You may make more money on cards of players who just reached certain milestones in their career, such as their 300th win or 500th homerun. Prices of cards in really good shape definitely go up when milestones are reached.

Closely examine your card. If the corners are sharp, or just a little soft, it may be worth getting it graded. If it has good color and is centered or near centered, it may be worth getting it graded. You’re not going to want to send in a faded card with creases across it that has bent corners. Unless, that is, it’s one of the most rare cards in today’s market, then try it out.

So you’re going to want to do some research. Get a price guide. Give a ballpark estimate at what condition you think your card is in. Then look it up in the price guide and see what the approximate value would be for your card in the condition you guessed it to be in. Now you’ll know if it’s worth getting it graded or not.

Let the card grading service grade your cards in what they call their normal time. Don’t ask for an express grading because it could cost you up to three times as much as a normal grading time. It may take a month and a half, but it will be worth it. Especially when your valuable card comes back with a high grade.