What exactly does this mean?

notowellint

Quote from standards for a PSA 10:
"The image must be centered on the card within a tolerance not to exceed approximately 55/45 to 60/40 percent on the front..."

Does this mean that a 57/43 centering could get either a 9 or a 10, depending on what the grader had for breakfast? Do they just eyeball it?

stevek

That's why you should "buy the card, not the holder." Seeing a PSA 9 that looks better than a PSA 10 isn't common, but it happens sometimes.

notowellint

I know it's hard to tell from a scan, but I often see card scans where it looks like the only possible reason the card got a 9 is because of a slight centering issue...but then I'll see a 10 that appears to be on par with the centering of the 9.