Sun Faded cards -expectations of grade impact?
 

I took in a fun new consignment today and a few key cards were left out near light or sun for many, many years (they were kids collection and held onto now - into their 70’s! Great story, less great for impact on the card colors 😢)

I’m curious what others’ experience has been when grading cards like these - is there a usual grade penalty for something like these below?

If all other aspects (centering, surface, corners) are decent (for example, mid grade 5 or 6), I wonder how far this fading of the card front impacts the grade?

Appreciate hearing others’ experiences here…. Thx all

Jeff

I don't know that there is any standardized way of grading these; I've certainly never seen enough sun-faded cards in TPG holders. Most people just keep these raw.

It depends on who specifically you get as a grader and what kind of day they are having. Also, based on limited experience, you might have a better shot with SGC than PSA. A couple of years ago I cracked a Stargell RC out of a PSA “A” holder that had very similar fading to your Rose above. I didn’t see anything wrong with it other than the fading and not great top-to-bottom centering so I sent it to SGC and it came back a 5 which I thought was generous given that I don’t really like faded cards. I also sent a faded Walter Payton RC to SGC maybe 3-4 years ago and it got a 4.5 which seemed right. In each case I felt like the fading cost me a full grade or so but coulda been worse.

A few months ago, REA auctioned several 1914 Baltimore News, most of which showed evidence of fading. They were displayed at the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum for over 20 years, and I'm told by a knowledgeable member of Net54 that the cards were poorly protected from damaging light. This card, which I have obtained for my collection of 1924 Senators players, is one of the most faded - for example, the blue border was originally much, much darker. I doesn't appear to me that SGC greatly, if at all, penalized this card for its fading.https://collectrea.com/archives/2024...graded-example

That is a very interesting comp - it reminds me of the varying image quality of the Old Judge cards… thx for sharing.