I will start by saying that I have no idea where this thread may take us, but will proceed nevertheless.
It seems that recently there has been more mention of centering as a focus of one's collection and centered cards are hence worth a preminnum over a card of similar grade that is not as well centered.
This got me to wondering about the grading process itself.
It seems clear to me that there are two distinct sets of criteria that affect the grade of a card.
First let's consider those factors related to the actual production of the card
1. Centering - In the prewar era this required alignment of the printed sheets properly and also required that the print itself was placed on the sheet accurately. Both of these were subject to human error and therefore centering of many vintage cards is less than optimal. This is therefore a production factor in the grading process.
2. Registration - This required exacting alignment of each individual sheet several times in the lithographic printing process as the colors were added to one another in multiple passes with different color inks. Another production factor that is considered in the grading process.
3. Corners - The majority of prewar cards probably completed the production process with reasonably sharp corners and edges, but some variation probably occurred. Diamond cuts where the corners vary from 90 degrees would be an example of a production factor in this category.
Second though the grading process is influenced to a great extent by what happens to a card after it is produced. A lot of things can happen to a card in 100 years.
4. Distribution factors - Tobacco stains can be related to how the cards were distributed. Polar Bear cards were distributed in tobacco pouches and were prone to this type of staining.
5. Scrapbooks were a popular method of keeping cards. Such cards can be in great condition from a production point of view, but then suffer from glue on the reverse which then may result in paper loss, either from manual removal from the scrapbook or attempted removal of residual glue from the card. Paper loss is a killer in the grading process, that completely ignores the "production" grade of the card. See where I'm going?
6. Tack holes resulted from displaying cards on bulletin boards. Sunlight can certainly result in fading and color distortions. Other factors exist in this category that affect the "post-production" grading of the cards.
7. Handling - the amount of which is favorable, but in a century, the majority of cards have been handled extensively resulting in rounded and frayed corners, wrinkles and creases, a variety of stain, marks added to cards including stamps and pen or pencil notations. All of these defects occurred well after the production process.
Beckett's grading of cards initially included sub grades for all cards:
Centering
Corners
Edges
Surface
Of these four only centering (except for trimmed cards) is exclusively a production factor in grading. All the others were subject to post-production wear and tear (I failed mention the torn card above).
The resultant sub grades therefore could be quite diverse with a card receiving an 8 for centering and 1s in the other subs in the case of a true beater.
The card itself would receive a 1 or 1.5, but not the numerical average of the four subs. I suspect because of these instances and complaints from customers, sub grades were eliminated for vintage cards years ago.
A note on trimming - some cards leave the production process centered, and some end up centered later as the result of nefarious behavior. Everyone wants the former and no one wants the later. To the extent that grading should be able to differentiate these two categories, it has benefit in preventing some folks from being duped.
I fully realize that for many if not most of the readers, I am preaching to the choir (not in the religious connotation, Leon) with all of this, but wonder if there would be any value to a split grade of vintage cards with one grade related to the production quality of the card and another grade reflecting the impact of post production issues. Clearly no grader would have access to the card as it left the production stage, but centering and registration should not change with time.
Using such a system could expand the grading of authentic and low grade cards that have tragic post production flaws on the back only. These cards could receive grades higher than authentic beaters for example.
I apologize in advance for the length of this post (but it could be longer) if I wasted your time, and I will apologize to all if this doesn't result in any discussion.
