Are these PSA cert numbers old or new?
 

I'm wondering about the cert numbers that start with an 8.

I've seen some cert numbers that start with "80" or "81" that have the older flips with no hologram, while a couple others I've seen starting with "83" or "84" are in the lighthouse flips.

So are the cards that have cert numbers beginning with "8" old grades, some of which have been reholdered in the new slabs? Or are some portion of the 8 series newly graded cards?

I think the new ones in play now start with 82. I just received a sub back all start with 82. Not sure about the 80 and 81 numbers though if they were new subs they would have the right flip and case.

There are a mix of old and new cert numbers in the 80M numbering scheme. There will be in 90M as well.

Guessing if in a lighthouse and the "tight spacing" with the grade ("VG-EX") they are new. They were in the high 7M range on new stuff I know late last year.

It seems like for a while there, the Collectors Universe 8-digit numbers weren't siloed by whichever branch (PSA, PCGS, etc). Now they definitely are, since maybe 8-10 years ago.

Always design a database for more function than you'll need, kids.

Is there any guide or other info on psa cert numbers here? Being that it seems vintage grading got super tough not too long ago it would be great to know whether I'm buying an older, easier to get a high grade vintage card vs a newer graded tougher to get card.

Won’t be too long before they will have to add another digit to their number scheme.

https://allvintagecards.com/history-of-psa-flips/

You've probably already seen the above, although it doesn't address the question of how to deal with the 8XXX cert numbers. I believe that the 4XXX suffer from similar uncertainty.