Resealed slab: what to look at

Step by step

1. 01Run the seam. Hold the slab edge-on under a lamp and turn it slowly. A factory weld is even and continuous along the join of the two halves. Look for a stretch that is cloudy, melted, filled, glued or wider than the rest, or a join that is open to the eye.
2. 02Look at the corners. A holder is usually opened at a corner. Look for crazing, white stress marks, a chip, a filled corner, or a corner that is a different clarity from the other three.
3. 03Check the fit. The card and its inner sleeve were seated once. A card that rattles, sits off-centre, or sits differently from the grader’s images, or an inner sleeve that is not the grader’s own, belongs on the list of questions.
4. 04Read the label through the plastic. The label is sealed in with the card. Look at its edges for lifting or a second layer, and at its design against the holder: graders change holders and labels over time, so a label of one era in a holder of another is a reason to ask.
5. 05Compare with the record. Where the grader shows images, set them beside the slab (see the matching guide). Where it does not, compare the description on the record with the label and the card.
6. 06Compare with a holder you know. Another slab from the same grader and a similar date: the dimensions, the clarity, the weld pattern, the feel of the edges. Differences are questions, not answers.
7. 07Write it down. What you looked at, what you saw, and what you could not tell, with the date and photographs of the seam and each corner. If the questions stay open, the grader is the party that can say what it sealed.

What this check does not prove

• What is inside. An opened holder says nothing about the card. The card may be the one graded, reseated after a crack, or a different card. The images and the description are the way to tell.
• Who opened it, or why. Graders open holders themselves to re-holder a card or review a grade. A holder can also be damaged in transit without being opened. The holder shows what happened to it, not who did it.
• That an intact holder means an untouched card. A holder with no signs of opening can still hold a card that does not match its record, and a label can be printed to copy a real one. The holder is one check of several.
• 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.