question about PSA grading
 

Thanks for reading this, I recently bought a 1964 Pete Rose PSA 6 graded card off ebay and I found its grade to be interesting. I am aware the grading companies are sometimes very inconsistent but I guess I am just looking for opinions from people here on the board who are more familiar with PSA's grading guidelines. The Rose card in question has absolutely pristine corners, a clean back and no creases/wrinkles. It is however slightly off center, appears somewhat out of focus kind of like motion blur(look at the "C" on pete's hat)?, and has a couple spots on the front of the card that appear to either be ink blotches or wax stains. Also compared to another Rose 1964 card I have the overall color appears to be a bit more dull. Is it common for cards from this set to have print defects and/or have the picture out of focus? Shouldn't this card be graded an 8 or 9 with qualifiers or is it common practice for PSA to simply ignore the qualifiers and downgrade the card? I should also note that overall, I am fairly happy with the card but am just curious. The auction link with pic is below, any help/opinions are appreciated


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

It's not common for those cards to be out of focus, but as you can see with yours, it does happen. I think the card could have easily graded an 8 with a qualifier - PD (print defect) or OC (off center) - take your choice. My guess is that the submitter requested no qualifiers and that knocked it down a couple of grades to make up for the qualifier.

Nice card by the way and as long as you're happy with it, it doesn't matter what the slab says.

Thanks for the response David, I wasn't aware that you could request no qualifiers as I have never submitted a card on my own. Good to know. I did a little looking on ebay and found another 1964 card that has a very similar print defect along the side:

http://cgi.ebay.com/1964-Topps-182-S...item3360046804

thanks again for the help:)

Yup, if you'll write "no qualifiers" at the top of the submission form, they will honor your request most of the time - but it usually knocks the grade down 1 or 2 points.