serial #'s starting with "0"?????

ydsotter · March 22, 2003 12:08AM

Ok... first, I should know better... I have read these boards for over a year...
in any case, I guess I do not know better.
Is it purely speculative that serial #'s beginning with "0" can be more generous grades?
or is this myth?
-Geoff

qualitycards · March 22, 2003 12:26AM

<< <i>or is this myth? >>

You are correct! It is a myth! There have been favorable grades given with all numbered sequences, but to dwell on cert #'s starting with zero is crazy. I read in an thread yesterday that a guy wouldn't buy any PSA cards starting w/ zero, thats insane. I can look at a bunch of cards starting with 3's and find a few close calls, and that proves nothing. Mistakes have surely been made and when there is an excess of 5,000,000 PSA cards graded a small % falls through the cracks. As we all preach, "Buy the Card, not the holder" regardless of serial #...jay

RedHeart54 · March 22, 2003 12:26AM

thread

This is discussed in this thread. I think the consensus is PSA cards starting with a 0 are no less credible than any other PSA card. True, 0 numbers were graded before PSA supposedly became "tougher" in its standards, but looking at my own cards starting with 0, I don't think the grades would be much different if at all. Sure, one or two might have been "overgraded", but it's all subjective in the end.

aconte · March 22, 2003 12:48AM

jay of qualitycards is dead on.

aconte

JeffVN · March 22, 2003 12:50AM

I agree that you should buy the card, not the cert. number.

mcastaldi · March 22, 2003 1:40AM

I do have a problem with cert#s starting with "0" however. Almost all of them have tags printed with that old butt-ugly typewriter-style font. As if the red-and-white tag wasn't unattractive enough. . .

Maybe one day I'll break down and have those particular cards re-holdered.

Mike

goodriddance189 · March 22, 2003 4:18AM

i think the very first ones (with the typewriter style writing) were a bit more lenient, especially on centering, but the later ones (with the rounded red border) are about the same as the newer ones.

RayBShotz · March 23, 2003 7:19AM

ydsotter- I have been building my 69' set for quite some time consequently I have a lot of cards in my collection with serial #'s starting with "0".
My observations using my PSA 8 quality examples:

1) There seems to be no visible difference in the card quality graded with serial #'s starting in "0" than other digits.

2) I, in fact noticed while looking at my cards that cards other than those serialized "0" often have more off centering issues than those with the "0". It seems to me that PSA 8NQ cards serialized "0" really had to be close to right on center. Today PSA allows for "no qualifier" grading on invoices. My guess is that PSA 9 quality cards off center cards are ending up in PSA 8 holders. For my money; if I am looking for a nice PSA 8, I would rather have a solid NRMT/MT card on center than a MINT quality one with centering or diamond cut issues.

3) There are good cards and bad cards all across the serial number spectrum. Buy the card. Buy what your happy with.

4) Although PSA's graders have changed over the years it is still important to note that the formal written standards for grading at PSA have remained the same. Technically all serial numbered cards would receive the same approach under these parameters. I, for one, am extremely happy that PSA never folded to industry and collector pressure to tweak the grading system or standards in any way. It is fair to say in response that individual graders interprit written standards differently, but those interpretations take place today as well as when cards were serialized "0".

5) Take a look at some of my 69' set scans for yourself. (I loaded the first 75 cards Saturday) I think you will find there are a lot of really nice cards for the grade of PSA 8 with "0" serial numbers. Are they universally better? No. But I think it is testimony to PSA's basic grading expertise and level of consistency. All in all you will be happy with your set as a whole in the grade you choose with PSA, regardless of serial numbers...in my humble opinion.

RayB69Topps

1420sports · March 23, 2003 10:47AM

I got a card graded at a show not too long ago, and it begins with a 0 ... so obviously these serial #'s were not issued back in the day. My last invoice came back with the serial # beginning with 3.

If anyone wants to get rid of ANY Pete Rose cards that begin with 0, I will pay 50% of SMR

RayBShotz · March 24, 2003 2:10AM

Scans are up for viewing on my 69' set.
RayB69Topps

purelyPSA · March 24, 2003 3:13AM

1420 sports - I heard that cards that start with 07 or 08 are show-graded cards. Has anyone else heard that?

1420sports · March 24, 2003 3:35AM

that could very well be the case as it is 07 ... my last invoice of 30 was the Feb special.

PlayBall · March 24, 2003 3:46AM

PurelyPSA,

My March show submission began with "5001". They were the free subs for renewing my membership, so maybe those types of invoives are numbered differently than the regular subs.

ydsotter · March 24, 2003 1:32PM

Thanks for all of the feedback and indulging my newbiesque question... my psa cards starting with zeros show no signs of difference from the others... i'll check out those 69's...
-Geoffrey

JeffSherman · March 26, 2003 7:22AM

I know this is probably wrong, but I understood that the serial number was actually two 4-digit codes, one for the submitter (first four) and one for the submission (last four). Of course, this doesn't make sense though for submitters who send in more than 9999 cards, but maybe they rollover other submitter numbers for the bigger loads. I seem to see groups of cards with the same first four digits and varying second four whenever I see freshly graded lots of PSA cards, but I could be wrong about that. However, over thelast 10 years or so, I have never seen anything that says the serial # corresponds to any grade, grader or grading tendencies, if that helps.

serial #'s starting with &quot;0&quot;?????

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serial #'s starting with "0"?????