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What Is a PSA 10? The PSA Grading Scale Explained

10 min read MintGrade Team

"PSA 10" shows up in listing titles everywhere, usually in capital letters, like it is shouting across the room. It means something very specific, and so does every number below it. Here is the whole scale in plain words, straight from PSA's own standards.

Quick answer

A PSA 10 (Gem Mint) is the top grade on PSA's 1 to 10 scale: a virtually perfect card with four sharp corners, sharp focus, full original gloss, no staining, and centering of about 55/45 or better on the front and 75/25 on the back. A PSA 9 (Mint) allows one minor flaw.

Key takeaways

  • PSA grades cards from 1 (Poor) to 10 (Gem Mint), with a 1.5 grade called Fair and half grades between 2 and 9.
  • Each grade has a written description and a centering limit for the front and the back.
  • A qualifier such as OC (off center) means the card met every standard for its grade except one.
  • Authentic and Authentic Altered slabs carry no number at all.
  • The jump from 9 to 10 is small on the card and often big in price, which is why pre-grading matters.

What is the PSA grading scale?

It is the 10-point system PSA uses to describe a card's condition. After PSA confirms a card is genuine, a grader judges its corners, edges, surface and centering, then gives it a number from 1 to 10, where 10 is best. The card is sealed in a tamper-evident case with the grade and a certification number on the label.

Each number has a short name that appears on the label, such as GEM-MT for 10 and NM-MT for 8. Most of the grade is objective: finding print defects, stains and wear, and measuring centering. PSA is also open that part of it is judgment. Its standards say graders weigh eye appeal and what the market will accept when a card sits right on the line between two grades.

What does PSA 10 mean?

PSA 10 is Gem Mint, the top of the scale. In PSA's words, it is "a virtually perfect card." That means four perfectly sharp corners, sharp focus and full original gloss. It must be free of staining of any kind, though PSA allows a slight printing imperfection if it does not hurt the card's overall appeal.

Centering must be within about 55/45 on the front and 75/25 on the back. Hobby sites reported that PSA tightened the front limit to 55/45 in 2025, after years of it being widely quoted as 60/40, so older guides may still show the looser number.

Notice the word "virtually." A PSA 10 is not flawless under a microscope. It is a card where nothing takes away from how it looks.

Every PSA grade in plain words

Here is the full scale with PSA's official centering limits. The descriptions are our plain-English summaries of PSA's text.

Grade Label Front centering Back centering In plain words
10 GEM-MT about 55/45 75/25 Virtually perfect: sharp corners, full gloss, no stains
9 MINT about 60/40 90/10 Superb, with just one minor flaw
8 NM-MT about 65/35 90/10 Looks like a 9 at first; the slightest fraying on a corner or two
7 NM about 70/30 90/10 Slight surface wear up close, slight fraying on some corners
6 EX-MT 80/20 90/10 Visible wear or a print defect, maybe a very light scratch
5 EX 85/15 90/10 Corners start to round, minor edge chipping, less gloss
4 VG-EX 85/15 90/10 Slightly rounded corners, light scuffs, maybe a light crease
3 VG 90/10 90/10 Some rounding, noticeable edge wear, a crease may show
2 GOOD 90/10 90/10 Obvious wear, possibly several creases, little gloss
1.5 FR about 90/10 about 90/10 Heavily worn, but still fully intact
1 PR not listed not listed Eye appeal nearly gone; may be missing small pieces

The top three: 10, 9 and 8

A PSA 9 is a superb card with only one of these minor flaws: a very slight wax stain on the back, a minor printing imperfection, or slightly off-white borders. A PSA 8 looks like a 9 at first glance, but a closer look can show the slightest fraying at one or two corners, a minor print flaw or slightly off-white borders.

For modern Pokemon cards, these top three are the grades most collectors aim for. Lower grades tend to matter most on older and rarer cards.

The middle: 7 down to 4

A PSA 7 has slight surface wear you can see up close and keeps most of its original gloss. By PSA 6, wear is visible and corners can show graduated fraying. PSA 5 brings very minor rounding of the corners and possible chipping on the edges. At PSA 4, corners are slightly rounded and a light crease is allowed.

The low grades: 3 down to 1

PSA 3 and PSA 2 cards show real wear, with creases and much of the gloss gone. PSA 1.5 (Fair) is heavily worn but must be fully intact. PSA 1 (Poor) may be missing small pieces or have creases that nearly break through the card. For a rare vintage card, even these grades can matter, because they confirm the card is genuine.

Fun fact

To earn a PSA 1.5, a card has to be all there. PSA says a card missing solid pieces, such as a whole corner or the back layer of the card, cannot get Fair, however nice the rest looks.

A friendly row of clear plastic card cases on a shelf, arranged from a worn card on the left to a gleaming one on the right
From well loved to virtually perfect, one step at a time

How do PSA half grades work?

PSA gives half grades too. Its standards say cards with high-end qualities within a grade, between PSA 2 and PSA 9, may get a half-point increase. Graders look at everything, but PSA says there is "a clear focus on centering."

So an 8 with great centering might come back an 8.5. There is no 9.5, though: nothing sits between a 9 and a 10. And the 1.5 is its own grade (Fair), not a bonus on a 1.

What do OC, ST, PD, OF, MK and MC mean?

A qualifier is a short code next to the grade. It means the card meets the standards for that number except for one specific problem. Here are the six PSA lists:

Code Stands for What it flags
OC Off center Centering worse than the grade allows
ST Staining A stain beyond what the grade allows
PD Print defect A printing flaw beyond what the grade allows
OF Out of focus Picture out of focus or out of register
MK Marks Writing, ink or pencil marks, or dents from writing
MC Miscut An abnormal factory cut, sometimes showing part of another card

PSA marks OC, ST, PD and OF as optional. A card with one of those flaws gets either the qualifier, or a lower plain number that fits the flaw. Any card with writing marks gets MK, and any card with an atypical cut gets MC.

Qualified grades sell for less than the same grade without a code. Our guide to PSA qualifiers covers each code in more detail.

On centering, PSA's notes add a useful detail. It measures the borders left to right and top to bottom and goes by the most off-center spot. For cards grading PSA 7 or better, it allows a 5 percent leeway on front centering when eye appeal is good. PSA's own example: a card that is otherwise a 9 and measures 65/35 on the front may still get the 9. Our card centering guide shows how to measure it yourself.

What are PSA Authentic and Authentic Altered?

Some slabs have no number at all.

You pay the grading fee for both. If a card cannot be slabbed, PSA returns it with a code explaining why, from N1 (evidence of trimming) to N9 (an item PSA does not grade). Codes cover restoration, recoloring, questionable authenticity, altered stock, undersized cards, cleaning and miscuts. PSA does not charge the grading fee for undersized cards, miscuts or items it does not grade, unless you asked for an undersized or miscut card to be slabbed as Authentic.

Heads up

PSA's list of alterations includes cleaning solutions, surface sprays, pressed creases and scratch removal. Cleaning a card to "help" its grade can cost you the number completely.

Why does a PSA 10 sell for so much more than a PSA 9?

On the card, the difference can be one tiny print spot or a border a hair wider on one side. In the market, the gap is often large. There is no single multiplier, and it changes from card to card, but the reasons are the same:

To see the gap for your own card, look up both grades on PSA's Auction Prices Realized page, or compare recent sold listings for the same card at 9 and 10. Our guide to PSA 9 vs PSA 10 goes deeper on the gap.

This matters before you submit. If grading only pays off with a 10, you are taking a bet that nobody can promise. Our worth-it check helps you decide.

How does the PSA scale compare with CGC's?

CGC also uses a 10-point scale, with one big twist: it has two 10s. A CGC Pristine 10 needs 50/50 centering and flawless color and registration, while a CGC Gem Mint 10 uses the same centering limits as a PSA 10 (about 55/45 front, 75/25 back). CGC also gives a Mint+ 9.5, which PSA does not.

If you are choosing between the two, our PSA vs CGC comparison lays out the trade-offs for Pokemon cards.

How can you guess your PSA grade before you submit?

Go through the four areas one by one: centering, corners, edges and surface. Use a bright light, tilt the card to catch scratches, and look at every corner through a 10x loupe. Then match what you found against the table above and be honest about the grade it sounds like.

Our step-by-step guide to how to grade Pokemon cards walks through the whole pre-grade, plus packing and submitting. The MintGrade app, coming soon, will estimate all four areas from a single photo.

Try it

Centering is the easiest area to measure exactly. Drop a photo into the free card centering calculator and see which PSA grades your front and back allow.

A small mint-green gem character holding a loupe up to a trading card while standing on a stack of clear plastic card cases
Minty checks the corners before anything goes in the mail

The bottom line

The PSA grading scale runs from a 1 that is barely hanging on to a 10 that is virtually perfect. The written standards and the centering table tell you what each number asks for, and qualifiers and Authentic labels cover the cards that do not fit neatly. Learn the top three grades well, measure your centering, and you will know what you are sending before PSA ever sees it.

MintGrade guides explain how grading works and help you decide what to submit. Only a grading company can assign a grade, and prices change daily, so check recent sold listings before you buy, sell or submit.

Questions collectors ask

What does PSA 10 mean?

PSA 10, called Gem Mint, is the top grade on PSA's 1 to 10 scale. PSA describes it as a virtually perfect card with four sharp corners, sharp focus, full original gloss, no staining, and centering of about 55/45 or better on the front and 75/25 or better on the back.

What is the difference between a PSA 9 and a PSA 10?

A PSA 9 (Mint) may have one minor flaw, such as a small print imperfection or slightly off-white borders, and allows about 60/40 front centering and 90/10 on the back. A PSA 10 has no such flaw and needs about 55/45 on the front and 75/25 on the back.

Is there a PSA 9.5?

No. PSA gives half grades only between PSA 2 and PSA 9, so you can see an 8.5 or a 6.5, but nothing between a 9 and a 10.

What does OC mean on a PSA card?

OC stands for off center. It means the card met the other standards for the grade on its label but its centering did not. A qualified grade usually sells for less than the same grade without a qualifier.

What does Authentic mean on a PSA slab?

It means PSA certifies the card is genuine but gives it no number. Authentic Altered means the card is genuine but shows alterations such as trimming, recoloring, restoration or cleaning. The grading fee still applies in both cases.

Where these facts come from

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