Card Grading Scale Explained: PSA Grades, TFG Grades, and What They Mean

Understand the full card grading scale from Grade 1 to Grade 10, learn what each PSA grade means, and see how the Tree Frog Grading (TFG) scale compares. Whether you collect Pokémon cards, sports cards, or other trading cards, this guide explains how professional grades work and what to expect before you submit.

The card grading scale is the foundation of professional trading card collecting. Every grading company - including PSA, BGS, CGC, and TFG - uses a numerical scale to communicate a card's condition in a standardised, consistent way. When a card is described as a PSA 10 or a TFG 9, that number carries specific meaning about the card's centering, corners, edges, and surface quality. Understanding what each grade means helps collectors make informed decisions when buying, selling, or submitting cards for grading.

This page explains the PSA grading scale in full, introduces the TFG grading scale including TFG's unique Alpha 10 and Bravo 10 designations, and provides a broad comparison between the two systems. It also covers what graders look for, what causes cards to lose grades, and how TFG's sub-grade system gives collectors a more transparent view of how a final grade was reached.

What Is a Card Grading Scale?

A card grading scale is a standardised system used by professional grading companies to assess and communicate the overall condition of a trading card. Rather than relying on subjective descriptions like "good condition" or "lightly used" - terms that mean different things to different people - a grading scale assigns a precise numerical score based on a structured evaluation of specific condition factors.

Most grading scales run from 1 at the lowest end to 10 at the highest, with each number representing a defined condition threshold. Some companies, including TFG, extend beyond the standard 10 with premium designations for truly exceptional cards. The grade a card receives is determined by its weakest area - a card with a perfect surface and sharp corners can still be capped at a lower grade if its centering is significantly off.

Grading scales serve several important functions. They remove subjectivity from card transactions, giving buyers and sellers a shared language for condition. They provide a permanent, authenticated record of a card's condition at the point of grading. And they allow collectors to compare cards across different sellers, eras, and card types with a common benchmark. You can learn more about the four condition areas graders assess in our card condition guide.

PSA Grading Scale Explained

PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator) is one of the world's most widely recognised card grading companies. Their 1 to 10 grading scale is used as a benchmark across the hobby and is referenced by collectors worldwide, even when submitting to other grading services. Understanding PSA grades helps collectors evaluate cards on the secondary market and set expectations before submitting their own cards for grading.

PSA grades are determined by assessing centering, corners, edges, and surface quality. Each of these four categories is reviewed, and the overall grade reflects the card's performance across all areas. A weakness in any one category will affect the final grade.

PSA Grade Label Abbreviation Meaning
PSA 10 Gem Mint GEM MT The highest standard on the PSA numerical scale. The card must be virtually flawless - sharp corners, clean edges, centred within tight tolerances, and a surface free from scratches, print lines, and dents. Only a small percentage of submitted cards achieve a PSA 10.
PSA 9 Mint - An outstanding card that falls just short of a 10 due to one or two minor imperfections - perhaps a faint surface mark, a very slight centering variance, or a barely perceptible edge irregularity. To the naked eye, a PSA 9 often looks flawless.
PSA 8 Near Mint - Mint NM-MT A high-grade card with light wear that becomes visible on close inspection. Minor surface marks, very slight corner softening, or a small centering variance are typical at this level. Still an excellent card with strong collector appeal.
PSA 7 Near Mint NM An attractive card with modest wear. One or two faint surface marks, minor edge roughness, or slight corner softening are visible, but the card still presents well overall. Near Mint is often described as lightly played in the TCG community.
PSA 6 Excellent-Mint EX-MT A solid card with more noticeable wear. Corner softening, light edge chipping, or minor surface clouding may be visible without magnification. The card remains presentable and collectible at this grade.
PSA 5 Excellent EX Moderate wear that is clearly visible to the naked eye. Light but noticeable corner fraying, edge wear, and surface marks are typical. The card is intact and collectible, but not a strong candidate for premium value.
PSA 4 Very Good - Excellent VG-EX Heavier wear across corners, edges, and surface. Whitening, edge chipping, and surface scratches are all visible. Possible light creasing. The card is still structurally sound but shows significant signs of handling.
PSA 3 Very Good VG Noticeable wear with edge damage, corner rounding, surface scratching, and reduced eye appeal. Cards at this level have been played or stored without adequate protection. Still collectible for rare or vintage cards.
PSA 2 Good - Heavy wear with multiple obvious defects. Prominent creasing, staining, major edge damage, and significant surface wear are common. Value is driven primarily by rarity rather than condition at this level.
PSA 1 Poor PR The lowest PSA grade. The card has sustained severe damage - heavy creases, tears, major staining, or structural damage - but remains intact and identifiable enough to receive a grade. Primarily collected for extremely rare cards where any authenticated example has value.

TFG Grading Scale Explained

TFG uses a grading scale that runs from 1 at the lowest end through to 9, then on to Bravo 10 and Alpha 10 at the very top. This structure allows TFG to distinguish between exceptional cards that meet a standard high-end threshold (Bravo 10) and truly extraordinary examples that are as close to perfect as a card can be (Alpha 10).

One of the key features of the TFG system is the inclusion of sub-grades. Each card receives not only an overall grade but also individual scores for centering, corners, edges, and surface quality. This gives collectors a more detailed understanding of exactly how a grade was reached - and where a card's strengths and weaknesses lie. See the section on sub-grades below for more on how this works.

TFG Grade Label What It Means
Alpha 10 Perfect The highest grade TFG awards. Reserved for cards that are as close to flawless as a trading card can be - exceptional centering, perfectly sharp corners, clean edges, and a pristine surface with no detectable flaws. An Alpha 10 is an extraordinarily rare result.
Bravo 10 Pristine A near-perfect card with only the smallest possible imperfections - typically minor manufacturing variations that fall within the tightest acceptable tolerances. Bravo 10 is equivalent in collector appeal to the top tier of most other grading scales.
9 Mint An outstanding card with very minor visible imperfections. One or two faint marks or a slight centering variance prevent the card from reaching Bravo 10, but it remains an excellent, high-grade example.
8 Near Mint - Mint A strong card with light wear that is visible on close inspection. Minor surface marks, very slight corner softening, or a small centering offset are typical at Grade 8. Still a highly collectible card.
7 Near Mint/td> An attractive card with modest wear. Minor edge roughness, faint surface marks, or slight corner softening are present, but the card presents well overall. Equivalent to what many collectors call lightly played.
6 Excellent - Mint More noticeable wear than Grade 7, but the card is still a respectable example. Corner softening, light edge chipping, and minor surface marks are visible without magnification.
5 Excellent Moderate wear and condition issues are clearly visible. Light corner fraying, edge whitening, and surface scratches are present. The card is intact and collectible but not a candidate for high-grade premiums.
4 Very Good - Excellent Heavier wear with more obvious corner, edge, and surface damage. Possible light creasing. The card remains structurally sound but shows significant use.
3 Very Good Clear wear across all condition categories. Edge damage, corner rounding, and surface problems are all visible. Collectible mainly for rarity rather than condition.
2 Good Severe wear with multiple obvious defects including prominent creasing, staining, major edge damage, or heavy surface wear.
1 Poor The lowest TFG grade. The card has sustained heavy damage but remains intact and identifiable. Typically only submitted for extremely rare cards where an authenticated example has value regardless of condition.

PSA to TFG Grade Comparison

There is no guaranteed conversion between grading companies. Each company has its own standards, grading philosophy, and tolerance thresholds, and the same card could receive slightly different grades from different services. That said, the table below gives collectors a useful broad guide for how PSA grades roughly translate to the TFG scale.

PSA Grade Broad TFG Equivalent General Translation
PSA 10 TFG Bravo 10 / Alpha 10 Top-tier condition. Exceptional examples may achieve Alpha 10; strong PSA 10s typically align with Bravo 10.
PSA 9 TFG 9 Mint-level card with only very minor visible flaws.
PSA 8 TFG 8 High-grade card with light, visible imperfections on close inspection.
PSA 7 TFG 7 Near Mint card with modest wear. Clean and presentable overall.
PSA 6 TFG 6 Excellent-range card with more noticeable wear visible without magnification.
PSA 5 TFG 5 Mid-grade card with moderate wear and clearly visible condition issues.
PSA 4 TFG 4 Lower mid-grade card with heavier wear across corners, edges, and surface.
PSA 3 TFG 3 Low-grade card with obvious wear and visible damage across multiple areas.
PSA 2 TFG 2 Very low-grade card with severe defects and heavily compromised condition.
PSA 1 TFG 1 Heavily damaged but still intact and identifiable enough to receive a grade.

Why Sub-Grades Matter

One of the most significant differences between TFG and many other grading services is the inclusion of sub-grades on every graded card. Rather than receiving a single overall number, collectors can see how their card performed individually across the four core grading categories: centering, corners, edges, and surface.

Sub-grades add transparency to the grading process. A card that received a TFG 8 overall might have scored 9 for surface and corners but 7 for centering - information that is invisible on a plain numerical grade alone. This level of detail is valuable in several ways. It helps sellers communicate exactly what a card's strengths are. It helps buyers assess whether a card's weaknesses matter for their specific collecting goals. And it gives collectors who are comparing graded cards a more nuanced basis for comparison than a single number provides.

Sub-grades are also useful when assessing whether a card might achieve a higher grade on a potential regrading submission - though the decision to regrade should always be weighed against cost and risk.

What Can Lower a Card Grade?

Graders assess four core categories, and a weakness in any one of them can reduce the final grade. Here is what to look for when evaluating a card's condition before submission.

Centering

Off-centering is one of the most common reasons cards fail to achieve high grades. Even a card with a perfect surface and sharp corners can be capped at a Grade 7 or 8 if its borders are noticeably uneven. Centering is measured on both the front and back of the card, and the back is often worse than the front. Many vintage Pokémon cards and older sports cards have known centering issues caused during the original print run.

Corners

Corner wear is typically the first sign of handling damage. Graders look for whitening (exposure of white card fibres), fraying (separation of the card layers at the corner tip), softening (loss of the sharp corner point), and mushrooming (rounding caused by impact). Even a single corner with notable whitening can prevent a card from achieving a Grade 9.

Edges

Edges are checked for chipping, whitening, and rough factory cuts. On older Pokémon cards and some sports cards, graders also look for silvering - a metallic sheen that appears on edges where the foil layer beneath has become exposed. Dark-bordered cards are particularly unforgiving with edge wear, as even light chipping shows clearly against the darker border.

Surface

Surface assessment covers the front and back of the card. Scratches, scuffs, print lines (fine lines created during manufacturing), dents, staining, and loss of gloss can all affect the surface sub-grade. Holographic and foil cards require particular attention, as fine scratches in the foil layer are often invisible face-on but clearly visible under raking light. Checking a card under a direct light source at different angles is the best way to detect surface issues before submitting.

For a full breakdown of each condition category and how to assess your cards at home, see our card condition guide.

Should You Grade Your Cards?

Professional grading makes the most sense when the potential value added by the grade exceeds the cost of the grading service. For most collectors, that means prioritising cards that are in strong condition (Near Mint or better), cards that are rare or vintage, and cards with high-market demand where an authenticated grade meaningfully increases buyer confidence and achievable price.

Grading is also worthwhile for cards you want to preserve long-term, regardless of their current market value. Encapsulation in a slab protects the card from further deterioration and locks in its condition at the point of grading. For important collection pieces - first editions, personal milestones, sentimental cards - a slab provides permanent protection and a clear record of the card's authenticated condition.

Cards in lower condition (Grade 5 and below) are generally only worth grading if they are exceptionally rare, vintage, or in demand, specifically as authenticated low-grade examples. For common cards with visible wear, the grading fee is unlikely to be recovered through added value.

Not sure whether your cards are worth submitting? Read our guide to what cards are worth grading for a detailed breakdown or start your submission when you are ready.

Frequently Asked Questions About Card Grading Scales

A PSA 10 - labelled Gem Mint - is the highest grade on the PSA numerical scale. It is awarded to cards that are virtually flawless: sharp corners, clean edges, strong centering within tight tolerances, and a surface free from scratches, print defects, and dents. Only a small percentage of submitted cards achieve a PSA 10. It does not mean the card is literally perfect, but it represents the highest standard PSA awards on their standard scale.

A PSA 9 (Mint) is an outstanding card that falls short of a PSA 10 due to one or two minor imperfections - typically a very faint surface mark, a barely perceptible edge irregularity, or a slight centering variance that falls outside the tightest Grade 10 tolerances. To the naked eye, a PSA 9 often looks identical to a PSA 10. The difference usually only becomes clear under magnification or direct raking light. In value terms, however, the gap between a PSA 9 and a PSA 10 can be very significant for sought-after cards.

TFG Alpha 10 is the highest grade TFG awards and is reserved for cards that are as close to perfect as a trading card can be. Bravo 10 is the grade below Alpha 10 and represents an excellent near-perfect card with only the smallest possible imperfections - typically minor manufacturing variations within the tightest tolerances. In practical terms, Bravo 10 is comparable to the top tier of most other grading scales, while Alpha 10 represents a higher standard still. Both are exceptional results.

Yes - a PSA 8 (Near Mint - Mint) is a strong grade and represents a high-quality card. It indicates that the card has light wear that is only visible on close inspection, but that it presents very well overall. For many cards, a PSA 8 commands a significant premium over lower grades while being far more attainable than a PSA 9 or 10. Whether a PSA 8 is a "good" outcome depends on the card - for common modern cards, an 8 may add limited value, but for rare vintage cards, an authenticated PSA 8 is a very collectible result.

Broadly yes, with the main difference being at the top of the scale. TFG's numerical grades 1 through 9 align broadly with the equivalent PSA grades. At Grade 10, TFG distinguishes between Bravo 10 (comparable to PSA 10) and Alpha 10 (a higher standard still). There is no guaranteed exact conversion between any two grading companies - each applies its own standards and tolerances - but the broad alignment makes it straightforward for collectors familiar with PSA grades to understand what a TFG grade represents.

A sub-grade shows how a card performed in each of the four core grading categories - centering, corners, edges, and surface - individually. Rather than a single overall number, sub-grades reveal the card's strengths and weaknesses across each category. For example, a card with a TFG 8 overall might have scored 9 for surface quality but 7 for centering. This information is valuable for buyers assessing exactly what they are purchasing and for sellers communicating a card's specific qualities. TFG includes sub-grades on all graded cards as standard.

Ready to Grade Your Cards?

Submit your cards to TFG for trusted UK card grading, crystal-clear encapsulation, and professional results you can display with confidence. If you are new to grading, read our grading guide.

Start Submission Choose your grading service