Does it make any difference if I grade this?

[Leon]

I would probably, not positively, grade it for protection.
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[3-2-count]

I would have it graded if it were mine.

[jamest206]

Aren’t some of these that are graded on the Heritage Fall Auction? I’d definitely get it graded

[G1911]

Another reason not to grade, if one is not planning to sell in the short term, is that you may need to regrade later to get your profit. There is a price differential for older graded cards already, and it is a very real possibility the market changes significantly in the next few years. With CSG rising, the almost inevitability of AI based grading removing the viewer from the occasion, if you're selling in 10-15+ years that PSA slab you have right now may not be the slab you or your heirs will want to sell it in. You might need to crack and submit to someone else or an AI service, or send back in and pay a fee to get it into a modern holder (though the serial would still give it away it's an older grade with different standards).

[raulus]

Originally Posted by G1911

Another reason not to grade, if one is not planning to sell in the short term, is that you may need to regrade later to get your profit. There is a price differential for older graded cards already, and it is a very real possibility the market changes significantly in the next few years. With CSG rising, the almost inevitability of AI based grading removing the viewer from the occasion, if you're selling in 10-15+ years that PSA slab you have right now may not be the slab you or your heirs will want to sell it in. You might need to crack and submit to someone else or an AI service, or send back in and pay a fee to get it into a modern holder (though the serial would still give it away it's an older grade with different standards).

Unless I’m totally off my rocker, a card with writing, a stamp, and a postmark on it like this is probably going to grade as authentic or 1. Unless the grading standards change between now and then, I suspect that a different grading system isn’t going to result in much of a difference that way.

If we were talking about a different piece with a potential for a higher grade, then I totally agree.

I suppose there’s still always the possibility that you raise that the most valuable case today might change over the next 15-20 years or more, so that might be reason enough to wait just to see where the market goes.

[G1911]

Originally Posted by raulus

Unless I’m totally off my rocker, a card with writing, a stamp, and a postmark on it like this is probably going to grade as authentic or 1. Unless the grading standards change between now and then, I suspect that a different grading system isn’t going to result in much of a difference that way.

If we were talking about a different piece with a potential for a higher grade, then I totally agree.

I suppose there’s still always the possibility that you raise that the most valuable case today might change over the next 15-20 years or more, so that might be reason enough to wait just to see where the market goes.

I mean obviously this exact card is a 1 in any real system. I never contradicted that at all. The recent posts have been giving reasons to or not to grade cards one doesn't immediately plan to sell. I never said this card might be a 2 in 10-15 years... The market shifts with new slabs and new companies. In 15 years if AI grading is the rage, people won't want PSA. Obviously this card is a 1. Set registries and people wanting the current thing will have the same impact; if people have moved away from PSA and into AI, then they won't want PSA eye graded slabs. Others even want the current gen slab regardless of the number. A slab is not a card, it is following the herd to whatever the hot thing of the moment is. That hot thing probably won't be the same in the future. Thus it is a waste of cash to pay to grade twice if one is not selling in the next few years.

[raulus]

Originally Posted by G1911

I mean obviously this exact card is a 1 in any real system. I never contradicted that at all. The recent posts have been giving reasons to or not to grade cards one doesn't immediately plan to sell. I never said this card might be a 2 in 10-15 years... The market shifts with new slabs and new companies. In 15 years if AI grading is the rage, people won't want PSA. Obviously this card is a 1. Set registries and people wanting the current thing will have the same impact; if people have moved away from PSA and into AI, then they won't want PSA eye graded slabs. Others even want the current gen slab regardless of the number. A slab is not a card, it is following the herd to whatever the hot thing of the moment is. That hot thing probably won't be the same in the future. Thus it is a waste of cash to pay to grade twice if one is not selling in the next few years.

Do you feel like the market places a premium on newer slabs simply because they are newer/shinier?

Or is it because there is a perception that older slabs have less stringent grading?

Or maybe both?!

In this specific case, if the reason for the difference is due to changing grading standards, then maybe there wouldn’t be a difference, simply because this is a 1/auth either way.

Naturally, if it’s a situation where a shiny new case is more valuable simply because it’s new and shiny, and you’re decades away from selling, then waiting makes total sense.