How To Get A PSA 10 Graded Card Grading Standards for Sports Cards 101 Sports Card Busters

Visual Guide to Centering

50/50

55/45

60/40

65/35

70/30

75/25

80/20

85/15

90/10

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PSA Grading Standards for Centering

PSA 10
Front: Between 55/45 and 60/40 or better.Reverse: Must be 75/25 or better.
PSA 9
Front: Between 60/40 and 65/35 or better.Reverse: Must be 90/10 or better.
PSA 8
Front: Between 65/35 and 70/30 or better.Reverse: Must be 90/10 or better.
PSA 7
Front: Between 70/30 and 75/25 or better.Reverse: Must be 90/10 or better.
PSA 6
Front: Must be 80/20 or better.Reverse: Must be 90/10 or better.
PSA 5
Front: Must be 85/15 or better.Reverse: Must be 90/10 or better.
PSA 4
Front: Must be 85/15 or better.Reverse: Must be 90/10 or better.
PSA 3
Front: Must be 90/10 or better.Reverse: Must be 90/10 or better.
PSA 2
Front: Must be 90/10 or better.Reverse: Must be 90/10 or better.
PSA 1.5
Front: Approximately 90/10 or better.Reverse: Approximately 90/10 or better.
PSA 1
Front: Approximately 90/10 or better.Reverse: Approximately 90/10 or better.

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Measuring Centering

Diamond Cut

Sometimes cards are cut with the image not parallel to the edge of the card stock. This is referred to as a diamond cut. In some cases this is not easily noticeable, in others it is very apparent. When measuring the border for centering, it’s a good practice to always measure a card at both extremities of a given edge. Use the extremity with the worst centering to determine that border’s centering balance. In cases where this is apparent, the card may be determined by PSA to be a Miscut (MC).

Worst Value

If a card has a different centering balance from top-bottom vs. left-right (it almost always will), use the worst centering value to determine the card’s overall balance.

How to Calculate

Here is a link to another thread with a centering tool I made for MS Excel. The spreadsheet uses both traditional centering (60/40) and a numerical value (1.50) to determine centering. I find a numerical value quicker and easier to read, however, I wanted people who prefer to use traditional centering to get use out of the tool. In the decimal way of expressing centering a 1.00 is a perfectly centered card, 9.00 is 90/10. It’s just taking the larger number and dividing it by the smaller.

In case you don’t have Excel, simply don’t like the tool, or love doing math – here is how to manually calculate the centering of a card:

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Qualifiers

OC (Off Center)

When the centering of the card falls below the minimum standard for that grade it will be designated “OC.” PSA determines centering by comparing the measurements of the borders from left to right and top to bottom. The centering is designated as the percent of difference at the most off-center part of the card. A 5% leeway is given to the front centering minimum standards for cards which grade NM 7 or better. For example, a card that meets all of the other requirements for PSA MINT 9 and measures 60/40 off-center on the front automatically meets the PSA front centering standards for MINT 9. If a card meets all of the other requirements for PSA MINT 9 and measures 65/35 off-center on the front, it may be deemed to meet the PSA front centering standards for MINT 9 if the eye appeal of the card is good.

MC (Miscut)

Cards that exhibit an atypical cut for the issue or ones that contain partial portions of more than one card will be designated “MC.”