Hey guys,
I have a question about CGC grades and I couldn’t simply find the answer on their website. It’s pretty straight forward:
What is the difference between A perfect 10 and pristine 10? And where do GEM MT 10’s fit in? I’ve seen all pop up on the internet and right now I’m just really confused and it doesn’t seem as straight forward as the PSA grades.
I don’t blame you, it’s quite confusing.
When CGC first started, they offered subgrades for an extra charge. If you got subgrades, and all the subgrades were 10, that would be a Perfect 10. Think of it like a BGS Black Label. If the subgrades had 3 10s and one 9.5, it would be a Pristine 10. Anything lower than this would be a Gem Mint 9.5. At first CGC 10s were incredibly difficult to get, but CGC relaxed their grading standards and made them easier once they released their pop report.
Recently, CGC changed their grading scale and label entirely. They eliminated subgrades, and no longer provide the “Perfect 10” grade. Instead, they have a “Pristine 10” grade, which is the same as the old Pristine 10 grade, just with no subgrades as an option. They also switched all Gem Mint 9.5s into Gem Mint 10s. So a CGC blue label 9.5 is equivalent to a CGC black label 10. What makes it even more confusing is they created a new “Mint + 9.5” grade which has no equivalent in the old grading scale.
I hope this clears things up, but honestly the CGC scale is really difficult to wrap your head around with all the changes.
Wow thanks for this great answer. Really appreciated!
Yep so if you find any Perfect 10s in the wild, don’t change them to the black labels!!