Grading Reports

More information about an Ace graded card.

The Ace Grading Reports have been developed to be more transparent with the Ace Grading grading scale. We want you, the collector, to be able to understand why your card deserves the grade that it does.

Ace Grading has a grading scale that was designed to be accurate, reliable, and robust, with a solid distinction between objective and subjective grading. For example, our centering is objective, measured to within 1/1000th of a millimeter, and those figures are calculated into the ratios that are used in the rest of the grading formula.

However, something more subjective is very slight print imperfections from the factory, and these areas are where our expert graders are trained to understand exactly what defines a card's quality.

The Grading Reports are designed to give some of this understanding and insight to the public. Do you want to check over a 9 to try and make sure you submit cards that have better chances of a 10 next time? Do you want to understand how much a specific area of damage on your card is affecting the grade? Thinking of buying an Ace Graded card online, and want to see any notable points of interest on the card, according to the experts? Now you can!

Grading Report Example

Subgrades

At Ace Grading we have redefined the idea of subgrades.

We do not solely rely on our subgrades to calculate the total grade of a card, however, no Ace graded card will have a total grade of more than one grade higher than the lowest subgrade. For example, a card with a 5 on Edges is capped at receiving an Ace 6. Some of the key areas that affect your subgrades may be denoted in our Points of Interest system, however the rest of our Ace Grading Scale is our “Ace Algorithm” that gives Ace the Edge…

...and the Corner, and the Surface.

Points of Interest Example

Points of Interest

Our Points of Interest (PoI) system has been used by our graders to identify specific areas on the card to look at, which isn't to mean that all points of interest will negatively affect the card, they're just something to look out for when determining the grade, the subgrades, or if there are additional observations to be mentioned. The thing we don't determine using this visual aid is the severity of how much a specific point of interest affects the grade.

As we use the Ace reference background image for our PoI, not a scan of the specific card, you should be able to define the general area of any spotted Points of Interest by judging its position compared to where that would be on your card. Sometimes we use one PoI marker to denote an area of imperfections, rather than fill up the image with many PoI markers. An example of this is using two PoI markers to denote a printline.

Additional Observations

On the Grading Report, you may see Additional Observations, which are to do with more specifically detrimental aspects of the integrity of the card. These have an impact on the overall grade, however, these do not detract from any of the subgrades.

At Ace Grading, we require a minimum of two Graders to go over every single card we grade, including one of our Senior Graders (our most experienced card experts), which we do to guarantee the consistency of Ace Grading, as well as continual professional development for all grading staff, making sure that every single card is graded to the Ace scale. Our Senior Graders are consistently tested to make sure they are the best of the best, and also help continually push the rest of the Grading team to reach their fullest potential.

Frequently asked questions

Ace uses Forensic level analysis equipment to make sure that cards graded with us are as accurately graded as possible, whilst our team uses our incredible and bespoke digital systems technology to integrate our expertise with cards with a fantastic customer experience as well as maximising efficiency and effectiveness in our workflow.

Not everything is denoted in our subgrades, for example, you should see in the Points of Interest and the Additional Observations that there are certain qualities of your card that are detracting from the overall grade.

Please see our Grading Scale.

Our determination of subgrades, additional observations and our overall grade is a collaboration between a minimum of an experienced Card Grader and a Senior Grader. This is our professional opinion.

Though an area may have some abnormality, our graders have not deemed it noteworthy, or have considered that area as already covered by another Point of Interest marker.

You can purchase a Grading Report for eligible certs from our Certification Lookup page. Alternatively you can add Grading Reports from directly within the Shopping Cart in the nav bar.

All your purchased Grading Reports will be available to view from your Dashboard. A purchased report will also be visible below the grade and card details on our Certification Lookup page.

Unfortunately, all cert numbers prior to 07286 are not eligible for a Grading Report. Although our grading scale and algorithm have not changed, we did greatly overhaul our system's back end, including the grading portal, which introduced new features, such as our development on the Points of Interest virtual card for graders. In short, our 1.0 Launch system didn't include some of the amazing developments that have enabled us to deliver Grading Reports to you, however all cards moving forward will have the option.