Is 'Wally' Pipp [Hand Cut] #39 worth grading?

Baseball · Baseball Cards 1923 W515 1 · full price guide →

Grading rarely pays for this card

Grade 9.5 copies of 'Wally' Pipp [Hand Cut] #39 sell for $113, only $0.00 above the $143 raw price — less than an economy-tier grading fee. A PSA 9 ($103) sells for less than raw, so anything short of a 10 loses money. Keep it raw unless you are grading for the slab itself.

Raw (NM): $143
Grade 9.5: $113
PSA 9: $103
Gem premium: 0.8×
As of: Sep 4, 2026

Break-even by outcome and fee

'Wally' Pipp [Hand Cut] #39: net result of grading versus selling raw, by outcome and fee tier
If it comes back…	Sells for	Economy / bulk (~$25.00)	Standard (~$50.00)	Express (~$150)
Gem — Grade 9.5	$113	−$54.50	−$79.50	−$180
PSA 9	$103	−$65.00	−$90.00	−$190

Net = sale price − $143 raw value − fee. Fee tiers are illustrative; plug your grader's current price into the calculator below.

Expected value — how often does it need to gem?

'Wally' Pipp [Hand Cut] #39: expected value of submitting by gem probability
Chance it gems	Expected sale	Expected net (standard fee)
25%	$105	−$87.38
50%	$108	−$84.75
75%	$110	−$82.13

At the standard fee this submission does not break even at any realistic gem rate unless the miss lands above the 9 price.

Full grade ladder

Raw conditions & history →

'Wally' Pipp [Hand Cut] #39 graded prices by company and grade
Grade	Graded
9.5	$113
9	$103

Run your own numbers

Should I pay this?

Asking priceGrading fee

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