I don't understand some of Beckett's math?!

Hallco

I guess each subcategory that they grade (Centering,Corners,Edges,Surface)are not created equal. I have a card that has 10/10/8.5/9.5 ...that has a final grade of 9?

If you add them together(38 in this case) and divide them by equally by 4, it equals 9.5 exactly! Even though the Centering and corners were "pristine"(their term, not mine) and the Surface was gem, I guess the edges has more influence on the overall grade! Anyone have any other examples like this one?

vladguerrero

The algorithm is more complicated than add them together and divide by 4, the subs aren't equally weighted. As a general rule don't expect a grade 0.5 higher than the lowest sub. Great subs for a 9 though!

hammered

Right
I recall BGS saying to never expect higher than .5 better than the lowest subgrade unless one sub is unusually low
ie, 9,9,5,9 could yield a 6 or 6.5
It sort of makes sense. If a card is all 9.5s except 8 on corners it shouldn't be mint, the 8 corners will (and should) keep it at 8.5

Nathaniel1960

Where I thought you were going with was how their single priced cards in sets don't quite match the total set value. For instance, add up the 1977 Topps BB set and the 1978 Topps BB set. On an individual card basis, the 78 set blows away the 77 set in aggregate, while the 77 set is listed as more valuable.

leadoff4

Hammered is correct. Beckett will only make the overall grade .5 more than the lowest sub grade. i.e. Corners 9, Centering 9, Edges 9, Surface 6= a grade of 6.5... go figure. I've had at least 2 vintage BVG cards bump a full grade by PSA, but now BVG doesn't do subgrades(at least I don't think). I had a '63 Pride of NL with subgrades something like this: Corners 8, Edges 8, Surface 8, and Centering 4.5. BVG graded it a 5 and PSA gave it a 6. Not a huge price difference on that card but it could make a substantial difference on a different card.

bking

Pretty sure everyone is correct about the .5 rule of thumb. I even think Beckett used to clearly state that somewhere. It only makes sense, too. If a card grades high in 3 areas, but quite low in 1, it doesn't make sense for the card to grade very high. Same thing with the other services; a perfectly-centered and cornered card with a surface issue isn't going to get an 8 from PSA.

Hallco

Thanks for all of the responses.