PSA and pre-war cards???

TripleCrown

I had a conversation with a friend whose views on cards I've come to respect, due to his accuracy on so many points. He say's that he uses all three big grading services(PSA, Beckett, and SGC) It's his opinion that each has it's own strengths depending on which cards you're submitting. He uses SGC (Pre 1944 cards), PSA (1944 -1985), and Beckett (1986 - Present).
His opinion is that the registries for each of these companies favor the respective card years(above) and thus cards in each of these respective holders net the most profit because of it.

I ask because I have some pre 1944 cards and want to make sure to submit them to the best place for them. I will be using PSA for the rest of my cards but wanted to double check about these.

Norm

Southerncards

You cant go wrong using SGC for your pre '44 cards. They would be my #1 choice.

yawie99

This is pure speculation on my part - i.e. I didn't check out past sales or either company's registry - but I would think that PSA might be the best choice for the '30s Goudey sets. Other than that, your friend's advice is probably good.

kennylow

Here's my take on some pre-war cards:

PSA dominates in the Goudey market...definitely the 1933 and 1934 set. I'm not totally sure about the 1938 set, but I would guess they dominate in that set too. A card in a non-PSA holder just doesn't sell as much.

For other sets, I think it's a lot closer, and SGC may even be better as far as getting more money in a sale. For the real rare stuff, I think SGC gets the nod as people think they have more expertise in that type of stuff.

aro13

I would agree with what has been said so far. PSA would be better for pre-war sets with high registry participation. The 1930 Goudey Sets, T206, T202, probably T205. For Old Judges and the e cards I would go with SGC.

JeffSherman

IMHO, PSA is the way to go for post World War 1 (about 1917) through 1972 or so, and SGC is better with pre-1917 or so cards, especially Cracker Jacks... I really don't know much about modern stuff, maybe Beckett is OK.. good luck!

Fletch1750

If you are selling Goudey cards you probably will probably get higher grades from PSA than SGC. I have seen many Goudey 8's that SGC would grade 80s and 84s.

Griffins

I've got to disagree with Jeff on the Cracker Jacks. The market is much stronger on PSA graded ones than SGC. I've been chasing this set for 4 years, and SGC's represent a deal as compared to ones graded by PSA. Additionally, of the 35-40 SGC's I've cracked about half have gone to the same grade, and 40% bumped up a grade in PSA. 10% dropped 1 grade.
IMO any set that has a strong presence on the PSA registry will bring more, with the exception of 19th century cards. For those, and most pre WW1 E cards SGC graded cards are in much higher demand, and in the RedMan issues.

Bicem

I have to agree with Griffins on the Cracker Jacks. The demand for PSA graded CJ's right now is much stronger than their SGC counterparts. I'm in contact with most of the major Cracker Jack collectors out there, and they usually only buy SGC CJ's in hopes of crossing them to PSA or cracking them and going for a bump in grade.

Now I'm not saying one grading company is better than the other (I personally think SGC has tougher standards) - just saying that the market and major CJ collectors seem to prefer PSA graded ones.

-Jeff