Jaw-Dropping Grades

[Batpig]

Not pre war, but 2 that come to mind are a Doctor J rookie that I had slated as a 7.5 or 8. It had nice edges, corners, and front centering, but had a yellow print mark in addition to the normal fish eye, and horrible back centering. It came back a 9. Another was an 86 Jordan sticker. I thought I had cleaned all the wax off of it, but missed a small amount on the first sub and it came back 8 ST. I cracked it out, recleaned it, resubbed, and got a straight 9.

I'm also frequently surprised by the grades I get on 56 Topps. I have no idea why, but it seems like they're much more forgiving on that year vs 57-59.

[ullmandds]

I had a 33 WWG Ruth that SGC rejected as altered...PSA graded it 4.

[Paul S]

Back in the Sixties when I was in my teens I would buy T206s and thought the backs were interesting but...One was a Red Hindu Duffy that I consigned to an AH in 2014, who had it graded. Came back SGC 55 - highest graded either SGC or PSA.

[ngnichols]

Bought a very nice 1959 Topps - Hank Aaron/Ed Matthews - #212 - Fence Busters. Was a grey back and ended up as a BVG 8 which was a POP 1, highest graded in that card as a grey back. Only 8 BVG 8's, 1 BVG 8.5 and 1 BVG 9 as white backs.

[Griffins]

I once submitted a few '13 Lajoie game cards that I'd picked up. Granted, they have round corners and are pretty inexpensive, but they are still 100 years old. I was shocked when I saw my grades online to see a couple of 9's and a 10.
Looked at it really close when it came back and honestly couldn't tell a difference between the 10 and the 9's.

[jb67]

I picked up a small card collection about 3.5 years ago from a craigs list ad. Decided I would try and do some selling on Ebay. While most of the cards were mid-grade it did have a very nice looking 1970 Roberto Clemente. I ended up selling it on Ebay for 99.00 and it was one of my first sales so I was pretty pumped. Then I get the dreaded return notice on the card. The buyer said it was trimmed so I let it go at that.

Fast forward a few months later and I decided to submit it for grading. I was pretty sure it would come back as evidence of trimming and much to my surprise it came back a PSA 9!!! Never so happy to have a return on Ebay after I got those results. The reason I submitted was I compared to other 70's cards I had and it was same size and everything look good to my novice eyes.

[Sean]

Originally Posted by jb67

I picked up a small card collection about 3.5 years ago from a craigs list ad. Decided I would try and do some selling on Ebay. While most of the cards were mid-grade it did have a very nice looking 1970 Roberto Clemente. I ended up selling it on Ebay for 99.00 and it was one of my first sales so I was pretty pumped. Then I get the dreaded return notice on the card. The buyer said it was trimmed so I let it go at that.

Fast forward a few months later and I decided to submit it for grading. I was pretty sure it would come back as evidence of trimming and much to my surprise it came back a PSA 9!!! Never so happy to have a return on Ebay after I got those results. The reason I submitted was I compared to other 70's cards I had and it was same size and everything look good to my novice eyes.

Did you let the original buyer know what he missed out on?

[Sean]

I bought a group of T206 rare cards in raw condition. I didn't pay too much, and I sent them to PSA. I expected to get grades of 1, but the Demmitt came back a 3.5. I have no idea why it got that grade:

scan0005.jpg

Busted a T206 Cobb out of a BVG 2.5 holder and submitted to SGC hoping for a bump to SGC 40. It came back graded SGC 50. That's pretty much my best grading story

[jfkheat]

Several years ago I busted out a BVG 4.5 1956 Mantle and sent it to PSA. It came back a PSA 7.
James

[cardsnstuff]

I got back this year; a 1981 Montana in a 9 and a 1909 Caramel #22 {Wagner} Questionable Authenticity. Both unexpected results to say the least.

[tjb1952tjb]

Cracked out a SGC 88(8) and sent to PSA......returned a PSA 9 (none higher). Very pleased............

[Exhibitman]

I bought a raw 1969 Phil Esposito on eBay. Looked great so I sent it in. Got a 9. I am always surprised when any cards that are pre 1980 come back with 9 or 10 grades. Doesn't happen often with my subs. One time I sent in a pair of Shindana Games cards of Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali. The Ali got a 9 and the Louis got a 10. Boy do I wish those two grades had been reversed!

When I was buying T cards I used to shoot for presentable vg cards. I sent in most of my hofers and got quite a few 5s out of it, which was a nice surprise.