The Importance of Grading

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(WARNING: the following was prepared on a machine which also processes Irony and Humour, and may contain traces of Nuts)

Grading cards in a collection, or to sell them or buy cards, sometimes site unseen, is an important consideration to all even slightly serious collectors and dealers…but is fraught with all kinds of problems of individual interpretations.

I was surfing the web the other day, when I came across a grading and card valuing system which consisted of eleven (11) different divisions, which was further augmented by a point and half point scoring system, not to mention five (5) different divisions of the MINT category.: Terms such as SuperMint, MintMint, Mint, NearMint, NearNearMint…as a collector I know all to well where double talk leads, so I closed the page before I got the ChocolateMint, Spearmint, and TuttiFruiti

A bit odd I thought, although I can see the advantages of elitism, self back patting, and general wankerism which might impress or intimidate a newcomer collector ( or even an old hand for that matter).

The usual system of grading is usually something along the lines of

MINT: never or rarely used, straight from the pack
EXCELLENT: Like new, unnoticeable minor wear
VERY GOOD: Fine to above average condition, minor wear and age
GOOD: Clear indications of wear and age
FAIR: Clear indications of age, heavily worn and under average condition.

Possibly two other conditions are often included which basically mean uncollectible, or bin able

A search of the internet found plenty of examples of grading systems which roughly concurred with that given. ..however no two were more than roughly the same, let alone identical.

More importantly, notice the number of relative, unqualified and basically meaningless adjectives.

What is the difference between minor wear, which is unnoticeable - wouldn’t you have to notice it to classify it as unnoticeable?) fine, clear, or heavy wear

And doesn’t MINT mean as it came in the case of a card from the printing machine…in that case no card could ever be classed as mint once it left the printing factory…just consider how they are wrapped stored, displayed and sold.

And in the case of a hundred year old postcard,:- due to no other reason than their age would be FAIR and under, and yet look how many Near Mint postcards are available

And now some prize gems from the elitist grading system I discovered: in the mighty MINT section we have the choice of (no doubt affecting the value immensely) : virtually perfect, minor imperfection,, super high end, minor loss of original appearance, (how on earth are they privy to the original appearance especially when it’s already been lost?) as well as a convoluted forensic measure to two decimal points of the centring of the face and rear pictures and borders on the printing machine.

Obviously these wonder mortals have spent their rather too sheltered lives obsessed with little pieces of pasteboard costing a mere few cents each, and never had time to visit or witness the realities of a printing factory, and surely would need a mega chew on the corner of their security blanket to cope with the vagaries of the photographic process, the graphic design studio, colour and ink grading, and …please …No…don’t say it! …No don’t! ….Batch processing.

No doubt also that mere mortals or collectors would ever be able to develop the apparently Birth gift abilities to discern the difference - although we could pay some rather large sums of money to one of these self professed super mortals to do it for us.

But really is it at all worthwhile…I’m sure some collectors and investors feel the need for such minute attention to grading, for some cards are actually worth dollars, but the general run of collectors probably use a grading system akin to my own, although they may call them by different names and describe them with different adjectives: I am certain this is how most dealers think.

1: that’s a really nice card, a bit special even, -stick a few extra dollars on for that one
2: that one’s for the collection, - normal (read over inflated) prices for that one
3: flog that one off to someone,- I’m sure someone will pay more than it’s worth
4: bin that one…- but only if someone doesn’t buy it first


So this is very much tongue in cheek but really just how much worth is any grading system on such a wide ranging, varied topic as cards spaning more than one hundred years, and including thousands, more like millions of people who are collectors, dealers, hoarders, investors, amateurs, professionals , kids, adults, senior citizens…um, actually people, and every one them an individual, even moreso than the cards they collect.

The collecting of swap cards, trading cards, sports cards, postcards, old photographs and related paper ephemera has been a hobby enjoyed by thousands the world over for many generations.

However outside a dedicated few collectors little information is available on how to go about collecting, looking after your collection, researching, dating and grading your individual cards, linking up and swapping with other collectors, and even making your life long or just beginning obsession a little more lucrative.

The sister obsession of stamp collecting has reams of information written almost daily, so this blog hopefully will become an aid, and a means of communication between all those who collect, have collected in the past,or who would love to begin collecting and are not sure how - and their are millions of us: from those who hauled a sweaty handful of dogeared cards to school each day, to those with albums lovingly filled with the things, a draw full, neglected but not forgotten, or even a select few mounted and preserved in perspex museum quality cases and mounted in pride of place in the family or trophy room.