Collectible Grading Scales Explained
Every collecting field has its own way of describing condition, and the same word, such as Mint or Fine, can mean different things in different hobbies. This guide puts the major scales side by side so you can read a listing or a grading label with confidence.
Last reviewed 2026-10-16 by the ValU team.
Why grading exists
Grading creates a shared language for condition. Without it, a buyer and seller would have to argue about every scratch. With it, two people who have never met can agree that a coin is MS-63 or a card is a PSA 9 and price it accordingly. Third-party graders add independence: they have no stake in the sale, and their encapsulated holders make it harder to swap or alter the item after grading.
Grading is still a professional opinion, not a measurement. Graders can disagree, and items are sometimes resubmitted and receive a different grade. Prices reflect that, and buyers often look at the item itself, not just the number.
Coins: the 70-point Sheldon scale
US coins are graded from 1 to 70. Circulated grades include Poor (1), Fair (2), About Good (3), Good (4 to 6), Very Good (8 to 10), Fine (12 to 15), Very Fine (20 to 35), Extremely Fine (40 to 45) and About Uncirculated (50 to 58). Mint State runs from MS-60 to MS-70. Proofs use the same numbers with PR or PF.
Coins may also receive designations for surface or strike, such as full bands or full steps on certain series, and color designations for copper. A coin with a problem such as cleaning may be given a details grade instead of a number.
Trading cards: 1 to 10
PSA grades from 1 (Poor) to 10 (Gem Mint), with 9 described as Mint and 8 as Near Mint to Mint. Beckett uses half-point grades and four subgrades for centering, corners, edges and surface, with Pristine 10 and Black Label at the top. SGC and CGC also use 10-point scales with their own descriptors. Graders may add qualifiers, such as off-center, for a card that would otherwise grade higher. Autographs are often graded separately from the card.
Comics: 0.5 to 10.0
Comic grades run from 0.5 (Poor) to 10.0 (Gem Mint), with intermediate steps such as 4.0 (Very Good), 6.0 (Fine), 8.0 (Very Fine), 9.2 and 9.4 (Near Mint) and 9.8 (Near Mint/Mint). Labels also record page quality, from white through off-white and cream to brown and brittle. Label colors indicate restoration, signatures or qualified grades.
Stamps: centering and soundness
Stamp grades traditionally use descriptive terms based on centering and margins: Poor, Fair, Good, Fine, Very Fine, Extremely Fine and Superb, with combinations such as Fine-Very Fine. Some services issue numeric grades up to 100. Separately, a stamp is described by its gum (never hinged, hinged or no gum) and whether it is sound or has faults like thins and tears.
Video games: sealed and complete
Sealed video games can be graded by services such as WATA and VGA, which assess the box and the seal. Their scales differ: WATA uses a 0.5 to 10 scale with separate seal ratings, while VGA uses a 100-point style scale. Loose and complete-in-box games are usually sold ungraded and described by completeness, label condition and box condition. Because these markets have experienced sharp price swings, use recent sales and be cautious with record prices.
Records: the Goldmine standard
Vinyl records are usually graded visually and by playback using the Goldmine standard. Mint (M) means perfect and is typically reserved for sealed records. Near Mint (NM or M-) means nearly perfect. Very Good Plus (VG+) shows slight signs of use without affecting playback much. Very Good (VG) has noticeable surface noise and wear. Good (G) and Poor (P) are heavily worn. The record and the sleeve are graded separately, for example VG+/VG.
Grades below VG+ often reduce value sharply for all but the rarest records, because the listening experience suffers.
How grades translate into prices
Value does not rise in a straight line with grade. For common items, the price difference between middle grades is often small. For scarce items, the top grades can be many times more valuable than the grade just below, because there are so few examples. Population reports from grading services show how many items have been graded at each level and help explain these jumps.
When comparing prices, always compare the same grade from the same grading company, and be cautious about assuming your ungraded item will receive a top grade. A realistic grade estimate is the foundation of a realistic valuation.
Grading your own items
- Use bright, diffuse light and magnification.
- Study the grading company's published standards and example images.
- Grade conservatively, then compare with graded examples you can see.
- Consider professional grading only when the expected value gain clearly exceeds the cost.
Raw versus graded: when the label matters
An ungraded item is often called raw. Raw items sell at a discount to graded items in many categories, partly because buyers must trust the seller's condition description and partly because the buyer carries the risk that the item is altered or counterfeit. The size of that discount varies widely by category and value.
For lower-value items, the cost of grading is often more than the difference it would make, and raw sales are the norm. For higher-value items, especially coins, cards and comics, the label is a major part of how the market works, and graded examples dominate sales. Some collectors also crack items out of holders and resubmit them in hopes of a higher grade, which is one reason population reports can overstate the number of distinct items at a given grade.
Abbreviations you will see in listings
- MS: Mint State, an uncirculated coin. PR or PF: proof coin.
- NM: Near Mint. VG: Very Good. VF: Very Fine. XF or EF: Extremely Fine. AU: About Uncirculated.
- MNH: never hinged, for mint stamps. CIB: complete in box. MOC: mint on card.
- Raw: not graded by a third party. Slab: a grading company's sealed holder.
- Pop: population, the number of items graded at a given level by a service.