Is the card in this slab the one that was graded? How to match it to the grader’s images

Step by step

1. 01Look the number up yourself. Type it into the grader’s own page from the label on the slab, not from a listing. Save the record with the date.
2. 02Open the images where the record has them. Front and back, at the largest size the page offers. Put the slab beside the screen in the same orientation and the same light.
3. 03Match the centring. Compare the width of each border, left against right and top against bottom. Centring is fixed at printing; a card whose borders differ from the images is a different card.
4. 04Match the corners and edges. Each corner has its own shape of wear, or none. Look at all four against the images, then the edges for chips and rough cuts. These do not move between a grading and a sale.
5. 05Match the surface. Scratches, print lines, dots, dimples and foil marks sit where they sit. Find two or three in the images and find the same ones on the card, under a light held low and moved slowly.
6. 06Match the print features. A serial number stamped on the card, a foil pattern, a registration shift, an autograph’s start and end strokes. Any of these is a fixed detail and should match exactly.
7. 07Match where the card sits. The card was sealed in one position. A card that sits lower, higher or at a different tilt from the images, or an inner sleeve that is not the grader’s, is a reason to read the holder itself (see the resealed slab guide).
8. 08Keep the comparison. Photograph the slab beside the images, note what matched and what you could not see, and date it. If the record has no images, or the grader’s page cannot be reached, write that down with the date and keep to the other checks.

What this check does not prove

• That the holder was never opened. The images show the card on the day it was sealed. A holder can be opened and closed afterwards; the seam and the corners of the holder are a separate check.
• The card’s condition today. A match shows the same card. It does not show that nothing has happened to it since, and it is not a grading.
• Anything the images cannot show. Resolution, lighting and the holder’s own scratches limit what an image carries. What you cannot see in the image you cannot match, and the record should say so.
• 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.
• What the card is worth. A grade is not a price. The lookup says nothing about value, and neither does this guide.