For much of the twentieth century, comic books were treated by publishers and readers alike as cheap, disposable commodities. Comics fans wouldn't think twice about folding or rolling their copies to fit into a back pocket, or cutting out coupons, or writing in them with pencils or markers.
Concern about comic books' condition appeared once those same comics – now very rare – became eagerly sought by collectors. Grading systems then developed to describe the state of comic books, and thereby determine their value. Collectors have refined these scales over the years, resulting in the 10-point grading system currently in use.
The Start of Comic Book Grading
Early comic book grading systems used terms that are still familiar even to non-collectors: Mint, Fine, Good, Fair, and Poor. These basic descriptions had been borrowed from traditional collectibles such as stamps and coins. (That's why pristine comics are still considered to be in "mint" condition.)
As collecting became more serious and lucrative, "in-between" descriptive terms appeared, such as Near Mint, Very Fine, or Very Good. But even with these added distinctions, the scale remained vague.
In the early 1990s, the editors of the Overstreet Price Guide developed a 100-point grading system, which gave numerical values to the commonly-accepted descriptive grades:
- 98–100: Mint
- 90–97: Near Mint
- 75–89: Very Fine
- 55–74: Fine
- 35–54: Very Good
- 15–34: Good
- 5–14: Fair
- 1–4: Poor
This system soon ran into problems, too. The 100-point numerical scale was seen as too complicated and confusing by collectors unsure of the difference between, for instance, a 72 and a 73.
Meanwhile, the descriptive grades were still too imprecise – terms such as Fine still covered a spread of twenty points. Before long comics dealers and appraisers began using "middle" or "plus/minus" grades, like Very Fine+, which only added to the confusion.
Current Systems of Comic Book Grading
The most recent system of comics grading was introduced in 2000. Its goal was to make the numerical values easier to understand, by putting them on a decimal scale; it also sought to indicate exactly where each descriptive grade stood in relation to others on the scale.
The "10-Point" comic book grading scale is used by Overstreet guides and the Certified Guaranty Company (CGC), which provides independent and universal grade appraisals for individual comics. The twenty-five distinct grades, with abbreviations, are as follows:
- 10.0: Gem Mint (GM)
- 9.9: Mint (MT)
- 9.8: Near Mint/Mint (NM/MT)
- 9.6: Near Mint+ (NM+)
- 9.4: Near Mint (NM)
- 9.2: Near Mint- (NM-)
- 9.0: Very Fine/Near Mint (VF/NM)
- 8.5: Very Fine+ (VF+)
- 8.0: Very Fine (VF)
- 7.5: Very Fine- (VF-)
- 7.0: Fine/Very Fine (FN/VF)
- 6.5: Fine+ (FN+)
- 6.0: Fine (FN)
- 5.5: Fine- (FN-)
- 5.0: Very Good/Fine (VG/FN)
- 4.5: Very Good+ (VG+)
- 4.0: Very Good (VG)
- 3.5: Very Good- (VG-)
- 3.0: Good/Very Good (GD/VG)
- 2.5: Good+ (GD+)
- 2.0: Good (GD)
- 1.8: Good- (GD-)
- 1.5: Fair/Good (FR/GD)
- 1.0: Fair (FR)
- 0.5: Poor (PR)
The 10-Point Comic Book Grading System in Practice
The current scale for grading comic books makes it much easier to describe the condition of collectible comic books in terms that are universally understood. This is especially important when collectors buy through mail-order, or through online auctions on eBay.
While the 10-Point system used by Overstreet and the CGC makes it easier to relate one collectible comic to another, it makes it harder for casual collectors to appraise their own comics without extra training. To better understand the scale, collectors should understand what factors determine a comic book's grade.
Source:
Robert M. Overstreet and Dr. Arnold T. Blumberg. The Official Overstreet Comic Book Grading Guide, Third Edition. Random House, 2006. ISBN-13: 978-0375-72106-9.
Luke Arnott - Luke Arnott has a Master's Degree in Comparative Literature from the University of Western Ontario, where he is currently enrolled in the ...
Join the Conversation