How to check a CGC cert

Step by step

1. 01Find the number. The cert number is printed on the front of the CGC label with a barcode. Copy it from the slab itself, not from a listing photo.
2. 02Open CGC’s page yourself. Type cgccards.com/certlookup into the browser and enter the number. CGC says the QR code on the back of the label links to the same record, but on a slab you do not yet trust, typing the address yourself is the surer route.
3. 03Match every field. The card’s name, set, number, any variety, and the grade. One field that differs from the label is enough to stop and ask.
4. 04Compare the images. CGC says it photographs every card after it is sealed in the holder, and the images can be seen through its cert lookup. Set them beside the slab: the corners, the centring, the surface and the label.
5. 05Read any warning on the record. CGC’s guarantee covers only items with an active cert number and no published warnings, and CGC tells buyers to check the number for the grade, the description and any warnings. Read the whole record, not just the grade.
6. 06Look at the label itself. CGC lists the label’s security features as microprinting, UV ink and holographic foil. A label missing what the grader says it carries is a reason to ask.
7. 07Keep the result. Save the lookup with the date you made it, with photographs of the slab front and back.
8. 08If the lookup shows no record. Check the digits, and that the slab is a CGC Cards slab rather than another grader’s. If the number is right and nothing comes back, read what a deactivated cert means.

What this check does not prove

• Who holds the card now. A cert records the card and the grade on the day it was graded. It says nothing about who has held the card since, or how it got to the seller.
• That the slab in hand is the one graded. The lookup checks a number. A label can be printed to copy a real one, so the card, the label and any images on the record have to match the slab in front of you.
• What the card is worth. A grade is not a price. The lookup says nothing about value, and neither does this guide.
• Ownership. A matching record does not show who owns the card or whether the seller can pass title to it. That is a question for the seller, in writing.