What Makes a Mint Card GEM?

PSARich

I have probably submitted 2500+ cards to PSA over the past 10 years, mostly 1950's-1960's baseball but also a couple hundred 1974's from vending. I have received 13 PSA 10's from the 1974's and 6 PSA 10's from the 1960's baseball. When I would look at the 10's I'd have trouble making a determination as to why the cards received a 10 instead of a 9. I thought about this over the years as I'd get a card back and think it should have been a 10 or even a 10 that I question why it wasn't just a 9.

I have realized that perhaps I am looking at only the normal attributes we consider to be mint i.e. corners, centering, edges, color, etc. I just received an order back from PSA which has a 1967 Topps baseball card that received a 10. Centering is good, 45-55 or better both ways, corners are nice, edges are nothing to rave about as the left and right edges are a bit of a rouigh cut. But oh the picture quality and gloss...sharp, bold, bright. So this got me thinking and I pulled out the other PSA 10's I have from the 1960's. Sure enough nice sharp cards but what seems to stand out is the picture quality itself and the bright glossy look of the card.

Therefore, I am thinking that perhaps this is a major variable that separates mint from gem. So what does everyone think? Why is a card gem mint in your opinion?

itzagoner

yes, it does have something to do with overall presentation, although, as we've seen discussed here recently, not all 10's are alike.

when you hold a vintage raw card in hand and you look at it, and i mean a REALLY nice card, your first inclination will be to try to identify flaws. you know from experience that you need to kind of place yourself in the position of being the 3rd party grader, because you actually are until your submission arrives at PSA.

the reason you send them your cards is because you value their opinion, too.

if you have a card that just simply makes you say "Damn, that's friggin awesome", you quit looking for flaws.

there are none. hopefully, the next opinion will be exactly the same as yours was.

the rough cut attribute is another issue that has always intrigued me, and i have scored a few nice grades on roughies which are consistently cut that way.

with all other attributes in place to qualify the card, then i see no reason why they couldn't grade it a GEM.

ssollars

I have no idea...

But to speak to your point, I have a '72 FB PSA 10 that has printing registration issues! The cardboard looks perfect but the picture looks blurry, I have never truly liked it other than it's a pop 2 and is part of a registry set. I have a 9 I think looks better that I also keep with that set.

Scott

MiniDuff

Weird, I just had an order pop with 4 psa 10s from 74 and one from 67. The 67 pops at you for sure, but the 74s always seem dull to me, which as vending, these are too.

In general, the 10s I get on 70s vs 9s seem to be vividly printed.

ldferg

From what I hear.... "SURFACE". I continue to send pack fresh cards from 75-81 and for the life of me can not tell what surface issue is keeping a 9 from a 10. I compare 9s and 10s from the same year and it's just puzzling. I wish I knew the secret.

Dboneesq

FROM THIS:

TO THIS:

DIRECTIONS:
This involves using large pressures and temperatures. Synthesis takes place within a cylindrical capsule containing MINT, a solvent catalyst made from cobalt, nickel and iron, and a seed crystal. The capsule is placed between an anvil and die made from tungsten carbide at a pressure between 5 GPa and 7.1 GPa (50 000 to 70 000 atmospheres) and temperature between 1200 and 1500 oC. A temperature gradient of a few tens of degrees can help growth from the seed GEMS. These high pressure high temperature (HPHT) techniques can grow GEMS from a few hundredths to a few tens of carats. With the largest commercially available GEM being 3 carots (0.6 g).

RICH: I have no idea what graders look at sometimes. I agree that the surface, when the card really jumps out at you, SHOULD have a lot to do with it. IMO a "10" should be given to a card when there are absolutely no questions as to whether there are any defects on the card, no matter how small. Very often you will find a card with a slight touch on one of the corners and it gets a "10". I don't think that should ever happen.

Foo3112

Also, a 10 is not necessarily a perfect card ... it's just as close as you're probably ever gonna get ... so there's probably an issue or two (or more) that you can see if you look close enough

I do agree with this. I recently went to a show with a friend who was getting a Pujols 2001 Upperdeck psa 10. The dealer had 3 of them and so once we made an offer and he accepted ($140), He opened up his case and was handing me the top one. I asked him if I can see all 3 and he kinda has this smirk while saying "theyre all 10's". I remember one of them having a mark that was NOT on the case but on the cards that the other 2 did not have. Then another has a little ding on the corner. Very minor stuff but defintely all 10's are not the same. Sure enough, I picked out the best looking one.

As far as an answer to your question - its just luck. Ive seen 9's that Ive thought should be a 10 and vice versa.