Welcome to Rare Candy's "Collector's Guide" series, where we help collectors of all experience levels learn and grow.
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Previously, we scratched the surface of the card grading world with a rough overview of why grading matters, what to expect when you grade, and some of the major players involved.
Certified Guaranty Company, or CGC, is a relative newcomer to the card collecting scene. However, the company’s long history of grading comics and other pop culture memorabilia has already cemented its reputation in the larger world of collectible grading, and in just four short years it’s established itself as a power player when it comes to trading cards especially.
Company History
CGC started in 2000 as an independent offshoot of the Certified Collectibles Groups (CCG), which was first founded in 1987 with the launch of coin grading service Numismatic Guaranty Company, or NGC. (So just like with PSA and PCGS, technically the coin grading service came first!) Originally the company was based in New Jersey but now has an office in Sarasota, Florida.
CGC is probably best known as the first independent third-party comic book grading service, but has recently begun to accept other pop culture collectibles — for example, both VHS tapes in and video game consoles in 2022, and toys “coming soon,” according to the website.
Most notably for our purposes, card grading officially started in 2020 with the aptly named CGC Trading Cards division, initially only accepting Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering cards. Soon after, CCG launched CSG (Certified Sports Guaranty) specifically for sports cards in 2021, and in 2023 both companies were folded into CGC Cards, now billing itself as “one of the biggest players in the card market.”
To date, CGC Cards (as well as its predecessors) has graded more than 6 million cards, including over 4 million TCG and non-sports cards, and over 3 million Pokémon cards. According to the official guarantee, all these cards are considered authentic (unless otherwise indicated), and were inspected by at least two professionals.
What CGC Offers
Like every card grading service, there are a lot of unique features and offerings that CGC brings to the table. Here’s a small sample:
Generally, CGC’s prices are cheaper than those offered by PSA starting at $15 per card (valued at $1000 or less) for a turnaround time of 30 days, and not above $150 for its highest level. Although CGC also offers annual memberships at various tier rates, bulk pricing is also available to free accounts — if you’re sending more than 25 cards at once, it costs $12 per card (valued at $250) for a turnaround time of 50 days.
Depending on your tier, CGC Memberships also provide submission privileges to other companies within the CCG family (like NGC, for example); fast-track and discounts on all grading tiers, as well as the CGC store; and for the highest tier, you can even drop off and pick up your submissions directly from their Sarasota location (which top local collectors may prefer over the anxiety of sending dozens of cards through the mail).
CGC is also the first service to authenticate major errors in cards — for example, Pokémon cards that were mistakenly shipped with square corners instead of the typical rounded ones, or double- and triple-printed images.
The unique plastic holders used by CGC are designed to accommodate unusually sized cards, like smaller errors and misprints or cards up to 7.25mm thick. These cases also “lock and stack together” for easier storing.
Like PSA, CGC has a public database of certified cards that researchers and collectors alike can use to verify the status of their CGC-graded items. Additionally, the CGC website features a population report of all the different types of cards graded so far, as well as a store look-up of verified vendors, categorized by card genre and specialty.
The CGC Grading Scale
The CGC makes much more deliberate use of half points across its entire scale. Generally, if your card is between whole numerical grades but closer to the higher one than the lower one, it’ll be given a half point or + designation.
CGC 10 / Pristine ): This grade is completely unique to CGC and will only be given to a “virtually flawless card.” This includes centering at 50/50 on both the front and back — meaning the print on the card is dead center. (From here, centering is measured based on how far away it deviates from this ideal — if a print is pushed 10% off in one direction or another, it’s considered 60/40).
CGC 10 / Gem Mint: Current gem mint cards “appear perfect to the naked eye and Mint+ under 10x magnification,” and overall the surface is free of print spots and perfectly glossed. Unlike pristine cards, centering is allowed at 55/45 or better on the front, and 75/25 or better on the back.
CG 9.5 and 9 / Mint+ and Mint: Some slight minor flaws may be visible around the edges, but otherwise this card has all its original gloss and four sharp edges. Only one minor spot or surface defect is allowed. Centering must be 60/40 or better on the front and 90/10 on the back.
CGC 8.5 and 8 / NM/Mint+ and NM/Mint: Cards in the 8 range must have relatively smooth edges with only minor touches of wear, and most have original border colors and gloss. Only one minor flaw is allowed, including slight imperfections on the corners under magnification, and subtle print spots or focus imperfections. A small diamond cut, which is a defect that sometimes resembles trimming, can also be allowed. Centering should be 65/35 or better.
CGC 7.5 and 7 / Near Mint+ and Near Mint: Two or three corners can be worn or rough, and the image might be slightly out of focus. Slight wax stains or diamond cuts are also allowed on sports cards, and TCG cards may have several small or one moderate defect. Centering should be 70/30 or better.
CGC 6.5 and 6 / Ex/NM+ and Ex/NM: Two of three common flaws, like slightly rough edges, noticeable print spots, or fuzzy corners, can be allowed, as well as no more than one slightly “dinged” corner. Moderate diamond cuts and wax staining are also acceptable. Centering should be 75/35 or better.
CGC 5.5 and 5 / Excellent+ and Excellent: One or two dinged corners and possible chipping on edges, plus light fuzziness on all the corners. Some border discoloration, noticeable print spots and focus imperfections may also be present.
CGC 4.5 and 4 / VG/Ex+ and VG/Ex: Some surface gloss may be visible, as well as minor staining and an “extremely noticeable” diamond cut. The corners may also be slightly rounded, and there may be other obvious surface flaws like scratches or light creases — one allowed for 4.5, and several for 4. Centering can’t be worse than 85/15.
CGC 3.5 and 3 / Very Good + and Very Good: One moderate crease or more than one light crease is allowed, along with rounded corners, scuffing, scratches, moderate edge wear, and loss of original gloss. Centering should be 90/10 or better.
CGC 2.5 and 2 / Good+ and Good: These cards can have heavier creasing; for 2.5+, this creasing does not travel from edge to edge, and with 2 it does. There’s also evidence of surface damage, including even writing on the surface, and a near-miscut or heavy diamond cut.
CGC 1.5 / Fair: A fair card can have “one catastrophic flaw” like a staple hole, severe crease, or writing on the surface, and may be miscut.
CGC 1 / Poor: Poor cards might be ripped, creased, or otherwise damaged with “multiple catastrophic flaws.”
CGC Authentic and Authentic Altered: These grades are only given to cards that cannot receive a numeric grade, such as a card with a missing portion or other manufacturing error. “Altered” cards in particular may show evidence of recoloring, trimming, or other alterations.
What to Look for When Buying CGC Cards
For the first few years that CGC Trading Cards and CSG operated separately, both company’s cards used a similar grading color scheme that it uses with its comics and other collectibles: blue for “universal” items, green for “qualified” (meaning those with significant defects) items, yellow for its autographed “signature series” (which refers to signings witnessed by a CGC grader at in-person events) and gold for certain items CGC considers “pedigree,” with some slight variations here and there.
While you’ll likely still see some blue and green-labeled labels on the market today, as of 2022 the CGC card label has been reworked into a streamlined silver design (although there’s still a separate gold foil-like back on pristine cards).
On newer cards, the front label uses a black border as well as the following:
A holographic version of the CGC logo on the top left
The card’s official name among collectors on the left, along with any other varieta details underneath (for example, what promo series it falls under)
The card’s grade and score on the right
A bar code and certification number on the bottom left, which can be used to research the card in CGC’s Cert Verification database
On the back, you should be able to see the following:
A holographic security label with the CGC logo and verification website (CGCcards.com/verify) on the left
Next to that, a QR code also that leads to the Cert Verification database to help identify the card
The score again on the right
These markers of authenticity will help you verify the authenticity of a CGC-graded card — but make sure you also look up the card in the CGC database to determine more about when it was originally graded, too!
