Is it really gem mint though?

[baystate123]

I don't get it. I've been searching for a few Cal Ripken Topps rookies for a few sets that I'm upgrading for trade-bait. Online, I came across a few that were admittedly really-really nice, but the sellers were calling them Gem Mint (and charging a premium). Is this even possible in your opinions? I've had some nice older cards graded. All of them I was expecting worst case 8's, probable 9's. 1 came back a 10 and I can't see a difference between a lot of the 9's. Bottom line, even if you've worked for PSA for years, you can't tell me it's 10 unless you take it to work with you and bring it back slabbed with a 10 on it.
So, for arguments sake. I want to know if any of us mere humans can say a card is gem mint or not........let's say anything pre-1985-ish.
Just curious.

[pwaldo]

You are correct there is virtually no difference between a 9 and a 10 grade and nobody can tell or show you the difference between a 9.5 and 10. People pay money for the grade not the card.

[kclj520]

I always wondered what the difference between 9 and 10 grades was, thanks for clarifying!

God bless,

Kevin

[CaptainMK]

You are paying for a grade by a person with a opinion. The opinion can change at any given moment. Like the car industry, you don't want cars that were built on Monday or Friday......gradings: you don't want the grader to check your cards on a Monday or Friday. Fingers crossed you get the grader on a happy day.

[jwlawrence06]

That's a pretty interesting point to argue. Theoretically, there should only ever be 1 gem mint version of any given card, since gem mint is essentially placing that version of the card above all others.

[Rachel]

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