The PSA Grading Scale, Explained

Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) grades cards on a 1–10 scale. The number reflects condition across four factors: centering, corners, edges, and surface.

The grades

• PSA 10 — Gem Mint. Virtually perfect — sharp corners, clean surface, centering roughly 55/45 or better on the front.
• PSA 9 — Mint. One minor flaw, like slightly off-center or a tiny surface imperfection.
• PSA 8 — NM-MT. Near Mint to Mint; very light wear on close inspection.
• PSA 7 — Near Mint. Minor edge or corner wear.
• PSA 5–6 — EX to EX-MT. Noticeable wear but still attractive.
• PSA 1–4 — Poor to VG-EX. Heavier wear, common on vintage.

Why the grade matters

The same card can be worth many times more in a PSA 10 than a PSA 9 — especially modern rookies, where high grades are common but true 10s are scarce. The grade compresses condition into one number buyers trust.

Shopping graded cards

Every graded slab we sell shows its company and grade up front — browse our graded cards. PSA cert numbers on our listings link straight to PSA's public lookup, and our authenticity guarantee backs every card.