Grading and pock marks on '50s cards

[cardsagain74]

Hello all. New member/former dealer (ages ago) who's gotten back into the hobby lately.

I've gotten used to most of the components of the post junk wax era of big 3 grading, but I've never sent anything in yet and haven't been able to find how very minor pockmarks on vintage post WW II cards affect the grade. Example:



Any thoughts would be appreciated

[cardsagain74]

Link to image https://imgur.com/8tZFy4q

[toledo_mudhen]

PSA will use a number grade of the card and then add a "qualifier" for significant issues as follow :

Typically cards with qualifiers will sell for significantly less money than a "non-qualifier" grade. I have found that most quaslifiers equate to a bout a 2 point drop in number grade except for the MC (Miscut) qualifier which tends to be a stronger hit.


Types of Qualifiers

PSA has a total of six different qualifiers that can be added to a card’s grade. You can take a deeper dive into PSA’s precise definitions of each on their site but here’s a quick hitter on the six and what they stand for:

Marks (MK) – a card that has some kind of written marking on it
Miscut (MC) – a card that has been cut incorrectly by the printer
Off Center (OC) – a card that is not well centered
Out of Focus (OF) – a card that is excessively blurry or has focal issues
Print Defect (PD) – a card with a notable factory print defect
Staining (ST) – a card with a significant stain, gum or otherwise

You should know that PSA generally has some minimum standards with these. For example, a card very slightly out of focus will probably not receive the OF designation. A card with a minute print defect may not get the PD label. Typically, the defect has to be pretty significant. That isn’t always the case, though. For example, even a card with a minimal pen mark is subject to an MK designation.

Info found at :

https://prewarcards.com/2019/07/04/p...aseball-cards/

[cardsagain74]

Lonnie,

Thanks for the detailed info, but I was referring specifically to the tiny surface "pock marks" that you occasionally see (for an example, look at the card I linked to) and if/how much they'll likely affect the grade that your card will get.

In this specific case, my best guess is that the Clemente in the photo would get a PSA 5 (without the pock.....there are a few minute-sized ones). With that, I wondered if I should be expecting a 4, maybe 4.5, or even still a 5?

[cardsagain74]

Testing the image again

Edit.....ok, forum newbie question too. I'm using the imgur link in the "insert image" window. Why isn't it showing up correctly?

[BruceinGa]

I have a couple 1961 Topps with similar "dings". I feel I will lose 2 grades on these. Hopefully I'm wrong.
Thanks for posting.

[cardsagain74]

Hmmm. If a card would be around 8ish otherwise then I'd fear a two grade ding too. But with something that's already just a decent 5, I hoped that such minor damage might be considered barely more than part of the typical modest flaws of a mid-grade card. Similar to how typical minor printing flaws wouldn't really harm a 4-5

[Tripredacus]

Testing the image again

Edit.....ok, forum newbie question too. I'm using the imgur link in the "insert image" window. Why isn't it showing up correctly?

That is the link to the image page on imgur.

This is the link to the image, you put this im IMG tags:

https://i.imgur.com/8tZFy4q.png

[img]https://i.imgur.com/8tZFy4q.png[/ img]

EDIT: code tags do not work properly on the forum as they are parsing included bbcode.
So in my code example, remove the space in the trailing IMG tag, or quote this post to see the different ways it was typed.

[cardsagain74]

[cardsagain74]

Thanks Trip!