How to check an SGC cert

Step by step

1. 01Find the code. The cert code is printed on the SGC label. SGC’s lookup asks for all 7 digits on black labels, and all 11 characters, in the form XXXXXXX-XXX, on green and white labels. Enter it exactly as printed.
2. 02Open SGC’s page yourself. Type gosgc.com/cert-code-lookup into the browser and enter the code in its lookup box. The page asks you to confirm you are a person before it searches.
3. 03Match every field. The card, the year and set, the card number and the grade. One field that differs from the label is enough to stop and ask.
4. 04Keep the result. Save the lookup with the date you made it, with photographs of the slab front and back.
5. 05If the lookup shows no record. Check the format first, including the hyphen on green and white labels. If the code is right and nothing comes back, read what a deactivated cert means, and ask SGC through its own support.

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.