How does a mark affect a card's grade?
 

I'm just now getting into graded vintage, and my LCS has a 1955 Topps Kaline that looks awesome. In fact, I asked them to take it out of the case so I could get a look at it. I was hoping to buy it with intent to grade. However, upon inspection, it's got the letter "Y" written on the front in ink. The card overall would probably grade a 6 if not for that mark.

So how does a mark affect the grade? Will it knock all the way down to like a 1-2 even though the rest of the card looks good? Will it only knock it down a point or 2? If it gets, say, a 6 grade but with an MK designation, does that mean it's really a 4? Just trying to figure out of I want to buy the card and sub it. It's really, really sharp. So just curious.

228. Twoplicity
The suppositional rule of thumb that a card with a qualifier should have a monetary/trade value equal to a straight graded card two whole numbers lower.


• The supposed two point drop in grade for a qualifier emanated from the PSA Registry, where a PSA 6 MK would only count as a PSA 4. It's become a rule of thumb, but many of us don't ascribe to that particular theory, and put more consideration into the overall eye appeal (i.e., is the off-centering minor, or is the mark not too blatant?) to determine its value.

• With PSA it is pretty straight forward. If they say a card deserves a grade of X and it has a mark, the result will be a PSA X MK. With other TPGs, it is not so easy to pinpoint what a mark will do to the number grade, or how low it will drive it.

• On a side note (and it's nothing personal, as I'm talking about each and every collector), no one is ever right about the grade they say a card will get, so if you're thinking the 1955 Topps Kaline should be a 6 (sans mark), you should definitely act like it will come back a 4 or 5 to protect yourself, and make an offer to the owner accordingly.

Good luck!!

The mark type also matters. If it is in pencil or ball point pen and that caused a ridge to form on the cardboard, consider the highest grade it would get to be a VG-EX 4(MK). If it's in Sharpie or Marker and did not damage the surface, then it would get higher based on the look of the card without the mark.

I can offer a recent example from my own experience.

I sent a 1960T Maris to SGC. It had writing on the back where a previous owner wrote their initials in pen. I thought it was a 6 if not for the mark. SGC knocked it down to a 2.

I recently sold it. You can see the listing here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/276378146537

SGC, without qualifiers, will normally drop any card with writing or even miscut down to the 1.5-2 area, so that's what I would have expected if I tried SGC.

Here is my 48 Bowman Red Schoendienst. Looks superb but has a small pen strike on the back. I would say it lost 2-3 grades because of it.

There’s no set rule on grading penalization when it comes to marks. It really depends on the mark itself. I had a 54 Hodges PSA 4 MK. The mark was a pen dot in back and the card sold basically for what a PSA 4 no mark would sell for.

An otherwise mint card with scribbles on the front will grade a 1 as far as I know but more importantly nobody is likely to pay more than “1 money” for it.

I own a PSA 3MK diamond stars Rick Ferrell. Because it has MK the guy sold it to me for the price of a 1.5 or so. The MK is some light staining on back I think. It’s really a nice 3.

Here it is. All that stuff around Rick's collar isn't actually a mark, even though it looks like it could be made by a pen. I believe the MK is due to the staining on the back. Which is kind of ridiculous because if that was worthy of a mark then half the bowman cards made between 1951 and 1955 should have "MK." When it comes to the MK qualifier in particular, not all marks are created equal and the graders will often be confused as to what to do, but ultimately the market will decide how much the mark matters to the pricing. Obviously a high grade with a MK will tend to take the biggest hit in pricing because people aren't as likely to spend top dollar for a card with MK. But there are probably exceptions even to that....

https://i.imgur.com/IMt6itl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/es295WC.jpg