CGC grades on a 25-point scale from 0.5 to 10.0, plus No Grade. This is a plain-language guide to what each grade means and, more usefully, which defects actually move a book up or down — so you know what you are sending in before you send it.
The scale is not linear in how it treats defects. At the top a single tiny flaw decides the grade. In the middle, graders measure and add defects up. At the bottom, quantification breaks down and the grade rests on overall look, feel and comparison to other copies. CGC itself notes that below 8.5 grading “becomes more subjective and dependent on experience”.
Near-perfection. Only one or two extremely small defects allowed at a time. Page quality, gloss and printing quality all matter.
Minor defects allowed in growing number and size. Still excellent eye appeal. Defects are counted and measured.
Noticeable wear: creases, tears, splits, tape, detachments. Defects are measured and weighed collectively. 6.0 is the median mid-grade comic.
Complete but worn. One major defect or a broad accumulation. 4.0 is a popular collector grade for keys; 3.5 is the threshold for qualified grades and brittle pages.
Structurally compromised: fully split spines, brittleness, missing pages or cover portions. Grading is largely an arm’s-length assessment.
Coverless, or too much of the interior missing. Certified for authenticity only.
CGC weighs two broad families of defect. Structural defects damage the physical integrity of the book; aesthetic defects affect how it looks. A book whose problems are mostly aesthetic may be structurally sounder than a clean-looking copy with creases and tears — which of the two has more appeal is a matter of individual taste.
CGC treats defects that originated at the printer differently from handling damage, and the tolerance depends heavily on era. At 10.0 virtually no printing flaws are allowed. At 9.8 most are acceptable, especially where they affect the entire print run — CGC will sometimes create a grading curve for an issue with a universal printing flaw. By 9.2 most printing defects are irrelevant, and by 7.0 nearly all of them cease to matter, with the exception of severe miscuts and heavy distribution ink splatter.
Very slight side effects from pressing — pebbling, cockling, warping, flaring or reverse spine roll — are allowed at 9.4, and are typically the only flaw on an otherwise 9.6 or 9.8 book. Heavy pressing defects that cause significant buckling fall in the 8.0 range. This is exactly why pressing is a craft rather than a machine setting.
The method changes as the grade drops, which is what explains how two books with the “same” defect can land at different grades.
Because printing quality and survival rates varied so much by decade, the same number means something different depending on when the book was printed.
Three designations sit outside the ordinary numeric scale.
Where a book has one specific defect — a missing coupon, a missing interior page or wrap, a married page, a color-copy insert — but would otherwise grade 3.0 or higher, CGC may assign a qualified grade reflecting the higher appearance and note the defect on the label. Never given for missing portions of the cover.
Any repair using restoration materials — glue, wheat paste, rice paper — results in a restored designation. Tape and staple repairs are treated as defects rather than restoration, and are graded as such.
Assigned to coverless books, or books missing too much of the interior relative to the cover that remains. Valuable Golden and Silver Age keys are still certified NG to confirm authenticity.
Every grade on the scale, with the characteristics that define it.
| Grade | Label | Tier | What defines this grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10.0 | Gem Mint | Ultra-high | Perfect in every way. No stress lines, bends or creases; razor-sharp corners; white pages only; full gloss; no writing or stamps (witnessed signatures and pedigree markings excepted). Almost never seen before 2000 — only one pre-1975 book has ever received it. |
| 9.9 | Mint | Ultra-high | One small non-color-breaking bend and one non-color-breaking spine stress line allowed. Off-white to white pages. No ink flaws. Usually the ceiling for ’70s–’80s books; fewer than 50 exist from the ’50s–’60s. |
| 9.8 | Near Mint / Mint | Ultra-high | Only one or two very minor handling defects — a tiny color-breaking spine stress line, light bends. Cream to off-white pages. Most printing defects acceptable, especially across a whole print run. The highest grade ever assigned to most pre-2000 books. |
| 9.6 | Near Mint+ | Ultra-high | A few extremely small defects, only one or two at a time: very small stress lines, tiny corner wear, a tiny edge or staple tear, very light tanning, one small stain. Nothing below cream/off-white pages. Top grade for many early Silver Age keys. |
| 9.4 | Near Mint | Ultra-high | Threshold of ultra-high grade. Light handling defects begin: a small spine split, one or two small color-breaking creases, a small chip out, very slight spine roll. Center wrap may be detached from one staple. Very slight pressing side effects allowed. |
| 9.2 | Near Mint- | High | Regular handling defects more apparent — typically an accumulation of tiny flaws, or one significant flaw. Books that would otherwise be 9.6 or 9.8 most often land here because of cover tanning. |
| 9.0 | Very Fine / Near Mint | High | Color-breaking creases and stress lines become more evident but stay small and few. Minor fraying, a ¼″ missing piece, a ¼″ spine split. Small non-functional tape, a subscription sticker or an unwitnessed signature allowed. Cover may be partially detached from one staple. |
| 8.5 | Very Fine+ | High | The first grade without “Mint” in the name. Resembles a 9.0 but one or two defects just exceed its limits. Light corner fraying, a couple of small staple tears, clean staple holes, a 4″ interior tear. Limit for light-tan to off-white pages. Below 8.5, grading becomes more subjective. |
| 8.0 | Very Fine | High | A threshold grade: high-grade eye appeal with a considerable number of minor defects. A 1″–2″ color-breaking crease, ½″ spine split, ½″ × ½″ missing piece, 1/8″ spine roll, moderate staple rust, light stains, some pen or pencil writing. An impressive grade for Golden Age. |
| 7.5 | Very Fine- | High | One or two defects barely exceeding 8.0, or an accumulation. Measured collectively: a 2″ crease OR a 1″ tear, but not both. Moderate foxing or tanning allowed if there are no significant tears or creases. |
| 7.0 | Fine / Very Fine | Mid-high | More prominent creasing and tears: a crease up to 4″, 1″ spine split, ¼″ spine roll, 1″ tape pull, 6″ interior page tear. One staple may be fully detached and the centerfold may be fully detached. |
| 6.5 | Fine+ | Mid | An accumulation of small defects, or one large one — grade on the large defect first, then adjust. Up to 1″ of tape. Maximum grade for slightly brittle pages. Cover partially detached from both staples. Tears accumulating to 2″. |
| 6.0 | Fine | Mid | The median of the scale — the mid-grade comic. Creases accumulating to 7″; 1.5″ spine split; ½″ spine roll; 8″ interior tear; 1″ × 1″ missing; two interior wraps detached; moderate marker on the cover; heavy staple rust; moderate tanning and staining. |
| 5.5 | Fine- | Mid | Looks and feels slightly below 6.0. A full color-breaking subscription crease. One full and one half staple detachment. Reattached pieces are graded as missing, then downgraded again for the tape. Tears up to 3″, heavy fingerprints, dark-brown tanning. |
| 5.0 | Very Good / Fine | Mid | A larger accumulation of 6.0 defects but more attractive than a 4.0. Up to three interior wraps detached; 2″ spine split; a 1″ tear through the entire book; 10″ interior tear; a 3″ strip of tape; heavy cover fading. Ask whether it is closer to 6.0 or 4.0. |
| 4.5 | Very Good+ | Mid-low | Like a 4.0 with fewer defects or better eye appeal. 2″ × 2″ missing from the cover; 4″ of total tears; 1″ spine roll; a full punch hole; the bottom of the range for a deep subscription crease. |
| 4.0 | Very Good | Low | Complete, attractive, no severe defects — often the median for surviving Golden Age issues. Usually the highest grade for a fully detached cover. Spine splits up to 3″; heavy Marvel chipping; heavy pen or marker; dark-brown tanning. Tape along the whole spine allowed if non-functional. |
| 3.5 | Very Good- | Low | Common defects too extensive for 4.0. The threshold for qualified grades, removed staples, brittle pages and tape reattachments. Highest grade with both staples removed, and the cap for brittle page quality. |
| 3.0 | Good / Very Good | Low | One major cover defect: spine splits totalling 5″ (about half the spine), a 6″ cover tear, a 3″ tear through the book, 3″ × 3″ missing paper, three large punch holes. A stain affecting up to a third of the book with a tide line. Heavy fade approaching black and white. |
| 2.5 | Good+ | Low | Worn and tattered but complete and solid. Moderate-to-heavy creasing, tears, staining and pieces out; tape often present. Spine split more than half its length; roughly 9 square inches of missing paper; stains covering half the cover with color loss. |
| 2.0 | Good | Low | The same defect range as 2.5 but more severe or more numerous. Mostly split spine, large missing pieces, or very large staining. Grading here is more art than science — a comparison to other copies. A “solid” grade acceptable for very valuable keys. |
| 1.8 | Good- | Low | Defined mainly by a fully split spine with no major tape or staple repair. Also missing interior pieces up to 4″ × 4″ affecting story or ads, or interior wraps fully split from brittleness — only one of these three, otherwise an accumulation. |
| 1.5 | Fair / Good | Low | Complete and readable but structurally compromised by large tears, splits or brittleness. A fully split spine reattached with tape or staples is a 1.5. Missing pieces may slightly exceed 3″ × 3″ on the cover. A fully laminated cover. |
| 1.0 | Fair | Low | Heavily worn but still relatively complete and readable. Up to a quarter of the cover missing, or a third of the interior affecting story or ads; chews up to 2″ × 2″. Full splitting of interior and cover from brittleness. Often a candidate for restoration. |
| 0.5 | Poor | Low | Extensive defects or significant missing portions. A third or more of a cover missing, often the masthead. A full front or back cover missing, but not both. Up to half the interior missing if the full cover or front cover is present. Married or color-copy parts still grade 0.5. |
| NG | No Grade | — | Usually coverless. Also a front cover only with less than half the interior, or a back cover only with less than three-quarters of it. Valuable Golden and Silver Age keys are still certified NG to confirm authenticity. |
This table condenses the CGC definitions and is a summary, not a substitute for them — the full text carries many era-specific exceptions.
Grading rewards preparation. A professional press and clean can lift a book a full grade or more before it ever reaches CGC — and we will tell you honestly when it will not.
