Is Cardinals Field Leaders #236 worth grading?

Baseball · Baseball Cards 1974 Topps · full price guide →

Worth grading — even a PSA 9 beats raw

A Grade 9.5 Cardinals Field Leaders #236 sells for $96.00 against $2.82 raw: a $93.18 spread, 34× the ungraded price. Even a PSA 9 ($87.43) clears the raw price after an economy-tier ~$25 fee, so a near-miss still comes out ahead. Centering is the usual reason a clean copy misses the 10 — measure it before you submit.

Raw (NM): $2.82
Grade 9.5: $96.00
PSA 9: $87.43
Gem premium: 34×
As of: Sep 4, 2026

Break-even by outcome and fee

Cardinals Field Leaders #236: 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	$96.00	+$68.18	+$43.18	−$56.82
PSA 9	$87.43	+$59.61	+$34.61	−$65.39
PSA 8	$20.97	−$6.85	−$31.85	−$132

Net = sale price − $2.82 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?

Cardinals Field Leaders #236: expected value of submitting by gem probability
Chance it gems	Expected sale	Expected net (standard fee)
25%	$89.57	+$36.75
50%	$91.72	+$38.90
75%	$93.86	+$41.04

Even a miss (a 9) beats selling raw after the standard fee — the gem rate only decides how much you win by.

Full grade ladder

Raw conditions & history →

Cardinals Field Leaders #236 graded prices by company and grade
Grade	Graded
9.5	$96.00
9	$87.43
8	$20.97

Run your own numbers

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