Is Luis Tiant [Hand Cut] #23 worth grading?

Baseball · Baseball Cards 1976 Hostess · full price guide →

Worth grading — even a PSA 9 beats raw

A Grade 9.5 Luis Tiant [Hand Cut] #23 sells for $72.00 against $2.87 raw: a $69.13 spread, 25× the ungraded price. Even a PSA 9 ($65.01) 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): $2.87
Grade 9.5: $72.00
PSA 9: $65.01
Gem premium: 25×
As of: Sep 3, 2026

Break-even by outcome and fee

Luis Tiant [Hand Cut] #23: 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	$72.00	+$44.13	+$19.13	−$80.87
PSA 9	$65.01	+$37.14	+$12.14	−$87.86
PSA 8	$43.55	+$15.68	−$9.32	−$109

Net = sale price − $2.87 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?

Luis Tiant [Hand Cut] #23: expected value of submitting by gem probability
Chance it gems	Expected sale	Expected net (standard fee)
25%	$66.76	+$13.89
50%	$68.50	+$15.63
75%	$70.25	+$17.38

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 →

Luis Tiant [Hand Cut] #23 graded prices by company and grade
Grade	Graded
9.5	$72.00
9	$65.01
8	$43.55

Run your own numbers

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Asking priceGrading fee

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