Grading: See the “About” page for my grading background. Standard grading terminology is used as described below.

Old school grading scale (well, really old school only had only Good, Fine and Mint!). I still use this but will more and more add the numerical grade as well.

  • NM Near Mint
  • VF Very Fine
  • FN Fine
  • VG Very Good
  • GD Good
  • FR Fair
  • PR Poor

Numerical grading scale (Please see notes below this scale).
10.0 GM Gem Mint
9.9 M Mint
9.8 NM/M Near Mint/Mint
9.6 NM+ Near Mint+
9.4 NM Near Mint
9.2 NM- Near Mint-
9.0 VF/NM VFNM Very Fine/Near Mint
8.5 VF+ Very Fine+
8.0 VF Very Fine
7.5 VF- Very Fine-
7.0 FN/VF FVF Fine/Very Fine
6.5 FN+ Fine+
6.0 FN Fine
5.5 FN- Fine-
5.0 VG/F VGF Very Good/Fine
4.5 VG+ Very Good+
4.0 VG Very Good
3.5 VG- Very Good-
3.0 GD/VG GVG Good/Very Good
2.5 GD+ Good+
2.0 GD Good
1.8 GD- Good-
1.5 FR/GD FrG (or FaG) Fair/Good
1.0 FR Fair
0.5 PR Poor

Notes: The numerical scale was made popular by CGC. “Market” grading standards are now in force in CGC graded product. Frankly, this means that grading standards among good graders are more lenient now than they used to be. I will be noting this with some of the items I have for sale where I will give example CGC graded books, with their certificate number. You can most likely find these specific examples given on the Heritage Auctions web site. While we can argue over the merits of market vs. technical grading, market grading is a reality. Therefore, when I note some of these examples it will allow you to have an idea of how my raw books may compare (I expect them to be favorable comparisons for my books in nearly all cases and it will give you an idea on what you can expect if you decide to send a book in to be slabbed (no guarantees of course as grading still remains a subjective process!)

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