Collector guides in this series
My grading guide covers how to submit a comic to CGC from the UK, what it costs and whether it is worth it. This page is the bit people kept asking for afterwards: what the number on the label actually means. What is the difference between a 9.6 and a 9.8 in the hand? Is a 4.0 something to be embarrassed about? Why does the scale skip from 2.0 to 1.8? All of it, grade by grade, in English rather than grader-speak.
How the scale works
CGC grades on a ten-point scale with 25 steps, from 0.5 at the bottom to 10.0 at the top. The steps are not evenly spaced, and that is deliberate. Above 9.0 the scale moves in tenths and fifths, because that is where tiny differences in condition make big differences in price. From 3.5 to 9.0 it moves in halves. Below 2.0 there are the odd steps at 1.8 and 1.5, which exist because "Good" and "Fair" on the old descriptive scale covered a lot of ground.
Each number also has a name inherited from the descriptive grading collectors used before numbers: Near Mint, Very Fine, Fine, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor. The split grades like VF/NM sit on the boundary between two of those. Knowing both is useful, because raw comics are still described by name on eBay and at fairs, and a "VF" from an honest seller means the same thing as a CGC 8.0.
Every grade, in plain English
The descriptions below are mine. CGC publishes its own one-line definitions and I have kept to their meaning, but I have written what the book looks like when you pick it up, because that is what you actually need.
| Grade | Name | What it looks like in the hand |
|---|---|---|
| 10.0 | Gem Mint | Perfect. No evidence of any manufacturing or handling defect at all. So rare that you should never plan a submission around it. |
| 9.9 | Mint | Indistinguishable from perfect except for one very minor manufacturing flaw. Almost as scarce as a 10.0. |
| 9.8 | Near Mint/Mint (NM/M) | Nearly perfect. Negligible handling or manufacturing defects that you have to hunt for. The benchmark grade for modern comics and the one buyers pay the premium for. |
| 9.6 | Near Mint+ (NM+) | Very well preserved with several minor flaws: a tiny spine tick, a soft corner. Looks like a 9.8 from arm's length. Priced like a different book. |
| 9.4 | Near Mint (NM) | Minor wear and small defects. Still a beautiful copy that a non-collector would call new. On vintage books a 9.4 is a serious grade. |
| 9.2 | Near Mint- (NM-) | Some wear with small defects. The top of "near mint" as most raw sellers use the phrase. Presents superbly. |
| 9.0 | Very Fine/Near Mint (VF/NM) | Very well kept with good eye appeal. A couple of noticeable but minor defects, like a light bend or a few spine stress lines. |
| 8.5 | Very Fine+ (VF+) | Attractive. One moderate defect or a handful of small ones. Still looks sharp on the shelf. |
| 8.0 | Very Fine (VF) | Attractive, with a moderate defect or a number of small ones. The sweet spot for a lot of Bronze Age keys: nice enough to display, priced well below the 9s. |
| 7.5 | Very Fine- (VF-) | Above average, with a moderate defect or small defects starting to add up. Light spine wear, a minor crease, some colour rub. |
| 7.0 | Fine/Very Fine (FN/VF) | Above average, but with a major defect or a real accumulation of small ones. Still a clean, complete, handsome copy. |
| 6.5 | Fine+ (FN+) | Above average with a major defect plus some smaller ones, or a lot of small ones. Obviously read, obviously cared for. |
| 6.0 | Fine (FN) | Slightly above average. A major defect and some smaller ones. Shows its age honestly and reads perfectly. Where many affordable Silver Age keys live. |
| 5.5 | Fine- (FN-) | Slightly above average with several moderate defects. Cover gloss going, spine worn, a crease or two. |
| 5.0 | Very Good/Fine (VG/FN) | An average copy. Several moderate defects. Complete and solid, nothing missing, plenty of wear. |
| 4.5 | Very Good+ (VG+) | Slightly below average with multiple moderate defects. A well-read book. |
| 4.0 | Very Good (VG) | Below average with multiple moderate defects. Still complete and structurally sound. On a 1960s key this is a respectable, affordable grade and nothing to apologise for. |
| 3.5 | Very Good- (VG-) | Below average with several major defects, or a heavy build-up of moderate ones. Rolled spine, creases, soft corners. |
| 3.0 | Good/Very Good (G/VG) | Significant evidence of handling. Several moderate to major defects. Reads fine, looks tired. |
| 2.5 | Good+ (G+) | Extensive handling with multiple moderate to major defects. Cover may be detached at one staple, spine split starting. |
| 2.0 | Good (G) | Extensive handling, numerous moderate to major defects. Complete but rough. The classic "reading copy" of a Golden Age book. |
| 1.8 | Good- (G-) | Extensive handling with numerous major defects. Held together, just about. |
| 1.5 | Fair/Good (FR/G) | A heavy accumulation of major defects. Cover may be loose, pieces may be out of the edges. |
| 1.0 | Fair (FR) | Very poorly handled with a heavy accumulation of major defects. Still recognisably the comic. |
| 0.5 | Poor (PR) | Heavily defaced, with major defects and pieces missing. Only worth slabbing when the comic is so valuable that any copy is. |
The grades where the money changes
The scale is linear. Prices are not. If you plotted the sold prices of a popular key against grade you would not get a straight line, you would get a series of steps, and the steps sit in the same places on most books.
9.8 on modern comics
For anything printed from the 1990s onward, 9.8 is the grade. It is achievable, because modern paper and printing are good and the books have not had time to age, so buyers treat it as the standard for a "perfect" copy and pay accordingly. A 9.6 of the same modern book is often a fraction of the price, even though you would struggle to tell them apart across a table. This is the single biggest reason people press before submitting: the jump from 9.6 to 9.8 is where the money is.
9.9 and 10.0
They exist and they sell for extraordinary premiums when they do, but you cannot aim for them. Nobody can tell you which 9.8 candidate will come back a 9.9. Treat any 9.9 or 10.0 as a lottery win, not a plan.
9.0 and above on vintage
For Silver and Bronze Age books the whole scale shifts. Paper has aged, gloss has gone, and a 9.4 from 1965 is a genuinely rare object. High grade vintage keys sell at multiples of mid-grade copies, and the premium grows with every step above 9.0, so the difference between an 8.5 and a 9.2 on an early Marvel can be a lot of money.
The mid grades, 4.0 to 6.5
This is where most surviving 1960s and 1970s comics actually are, and where most of the trading happens. Prices move more gently here. A 5.0 and a 5.5 of the same book are usually close, and buyers care more about eye appeal, page colour and whether the defects are ugly ones than about the exact number.
Low grade, 0.5 to 2.0
On an ordinary comic these grades are worth very little. On a major key they are the way most collectors can afford the book at all, and demand for low grade copies of the biggest keys is real. Do not assume a 1.5 is worthless until you know what the book is.
The practical takeaway: before you submit anything, look up sold prices for your exact book at the grade you expect and one step lower. If both numbers still make sense after the grading fee, grade it. If only the higher one does, you are gambling. The calculator on my grading guide does this arithmetic for you.
What the label colours mean
The number is only half the label. The colour tells you what kind of book it is, and it can matter as much as the grade.
- Blue, Universal. A standard, unrestored comic. This is what most people mean by "CGC graded".
- Yellow, Signature Series. Signed in front of a CGC or JSA witness, so the signature is guaranteed authentic. A Signature Series book is graded and authenticated in one go.
- CGC x JSA Authentic Autograph. A newer label for signatures that were not witnessed but have been authenticated afterwards by JSA's experts. Useful for the signed book you got at a convention in 1994.
- Gold, Pedigree. A copy from a recognised pedigree collection, which adds provenance and often a premium.
- Green, Qualified. The book has a significant defect that needs spelling out, such as a missing coupon or a signature CGC could not verify. The grade is given as if the defect were not there, and the label tells you what it is. Priced case by case.
- Purple, Restored. CGC found restoration: colour touch, piece fill, tear seals with adhesive, re-glossing, trimming and so on. The label states how much and how well it was done. Purple label books sell for a large discount against blue, and the discount grows with the amount of restoration.
- Blue and grey, Conserved. Professional structural repair done to preserve the book, such as tear seals, spine split seals or staple replacement, without cosmetic enhancement. Disclosed, discounted, but not treated as harshly as restoration.
One thing that is not on any label: pressing. CGC does not class pressing or dry cleaning as restoration or conservation, does not note it, and offers it as a service itself. A pressed book is a blue label book. There is a full explanation in my pressing guide.
Working out your own grade before you submit
You will not grade to a tenth of a point from your kitchen table, and neither will I, but you can get close enough to make a sensible decision. Four checks:
- Raking light on both covers. One lamp, low angle. Every bend, crease and dent shows up. Then decide whether each crease breaks colour, because that decides whether it is a small penalty or a large one.
- The spine. Count the stress lines and look for white in them. A handful of non-colour-breaking lines is a 9.x book. A row of white ticks is not.
- Corners and edges. Sharp or soft? Any chips, tears or rounding?
- Paper and staples. Open it. Pages white, off-white, cream or tan? Staples clean or rusty? Anything loose? Interior condition caps the grade no matter how nice the cover is.
If the worst thing you can find is a couple of tiny spine ticks and a soft corner, you are looking at a 9.x candidate. If there is a colour-breaking crease, plan around the 7s and 8s. If the paper is tanned or something is torn, plan around the mid grades, and read the grading guide before you spend anything, because the mid grades are where grading fees most often cost more than they add.
Questions people ask
How many CGC grades are there?
Twenty-five, from 0.5 (Poor) to 10.0 (Gem Mint). The steps get finer at the top: above 9.0 the scale moves in 0.2s, from 3.5 to 9.0 it moves in 0.5s, and below 2.0 there are the odd steps at 1.8 and 1.5.
What does CGC 9.8 mean?
Near Mint/Mint. CGC describes it as a nearly perfect collectible with negligible handling or manufacturing defects. For modern comics it is the benchmark grade that buyers pay a premium for, and the one most people are hoping for when they submit.
Is a CGC 9.9 or 10.0 realistic?
Rarely. A 10.0 has to show no evidence of any manufacturing or handling defect at all, and a 9.9 allows only one very minor manufacturing flaw. They exist, but they are scarce enough that you should never plan a submission around getting one.
What is the difference between a blue and a purple CGC label?
A blue Universal label is a standard, unrestored comic. A purple Restored label means CGC found evidence of restoration, such as colour touch, piece fill, tear seals with adhesive, or trimming. The purple label usually knocks a large amount off the price compared with a blue label at the same grade.
Is a CGC 4.0 a bad grade?
Not on an old book. CGC calls 4.0 Very Good, a below-average copy with multiple moderate defects, but on a 1960s key it means a complete, solid, honest reading copy, and it is where a great many affordable Silver Age keys sit. On a comic printed last year it would be a poor result.
Does CGC tell you why a book got its grade?
CGC records grader notes for many books, listing the defects that decided the grade. They are not printed on the label, but they can be looked up against the certification number, and they are worth reading before you consider pressing and resubmitting.
Want a straight opinion on your grade?
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