CGC’s centering tolerances are essentially identical to PSA’s, with one important addition: a separate Pristine 10 tier sits above the standard Gem Mint 10. To hit Pristine, centering has to be 50/50 (within sub-pixel measurement noise) and all other attributes have to be perfect.
Centering tolerances by grade
| Grade | Name | Front | Back | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10P | Pristine | 50/50 | 75/25 | Equivalent to BGS Black Label — separate label color. |
| 10 | Gem Mint | 55/45 | 75/25 | PSA-10 equivalent on centering. |
| 9.5 | Mint+ | 60/40 | 80/20 | |
| 9 | Mint | 65/35 | 85/15 | |
| 8.5 | NM-Mint+ | 70/30 | 90/10 | |
| 8 | Near Mint–Mint | 75/25 | 90/10 |
CGC vs PSA: side by side
For a typical “is this a 10?” submission, CGC and PSA will return the same grade ~95% of the time. The differences emerge on edge-cases:
- Borderline 9 vs 10: PSA leans more conservative on holos with light glare; CGC tends to give the benefit of the doubt.
- Pristine tier: CGC offers it. PSA doesn’t, so a perfect card maxes out at PSA 10.
- Turnaround: CGC is typically faster (4–6 weeks vs PSA’s 6–10).
- Market premium: PSA 10s still trade higher than CGC 10s on most popular cards. That gap is closing but it’s real today.