New member intro and question
 

Hello. I'm new to the forum and thought I would introduce myself. My name is Andy. I have been a vintage collector (okay...only T206's) for a little over three years. My main focus is on completing the T206 Polar Bear back set....still a few to go. I have been a "lurker" on this site for 2+ years and have been amazed at the camaraderie and knowledge shared between the contributors of this site. For that I thank you all...I have learned so much in such a short period of time!

I like to keep a list of my cards in a database which makes it easier for me to keep track of everything. With items being in a database, I can quickly run searches and sort information about my cards in any order I want. One such sort I like to perform is based on the "grade" of each card. All of my cards are graded by either PSA or SGC (not looking to start a grading company war...I promise! :) ). With this in mind, I wanted to ask the following question and get your opinions. I do understand each company is different and the scales aren't meant to be interchangeable.

If YOU were to intermingle the PSA and SGC grading scales...what would it look like to YOU? For example...would a PSA 1 = SGC 10 or 20 to you? Would a PSA 2 = SGC 10,20, or 30? Etc, etc. I am curious as to how the collectors on this site would combined the grading scales of these two companies (in theory of course) based on your observations over time.

Thanks,
Andy

Hi, Andy, and welcome.

Pertaining to T206s, I would likely just keep PSA's and SGC's scales on the same level, as you'll see variations within a grade with both companies. One of the few noticeable differences I see between the two is SGC may be a little more lenient on corner rounding (ie. you will see some SGC 50s with rounded corners typical of a PSA 3).

SGC also seems to be far tougher on minor paper loss, or they simply do a better job of catching it -- I've seen PSA 4s and 5s with minor paper loss on the reverse, where this would've automatically knocked it down to an SGC 20 had they graded it.

But overall, they can be pretty consistent, and I wouldn't necessarily bother with adjusting the grading scales to match perfectly -- there are too many factors to consider, and it all comes down to a grader's opinion, and then our opinion of his opinion. :)

Aloha! Dave. ps I prefer psa ( but I look closely for any paper loss). They are pretty much interchangeable as far as grades.

Welcome to the board Andy. I would say both companies have similar grading scales, for the most part. They each do things a bit differently but in the end are pretty close. Most of us concentrate more on the cards than the grades on the holders. We have all seen some 1s and 2s that look better than 3s and 4s. Happy collecting!!

welcome
 

great great choice to collect:)

welcome

peace

johnny v

Agree with the above comments. There are some tendencies of one company to focus on one element (eg corners, centering) vs another (eg paper loss, or surface wrinkles), and there's certainly variation within a particular company's grade. But by and large I find PSA and SGC grades fairly comparable.

Best of luck, and welcome aboard,
--S