Read from PSA’s grading standards page. Checked 2026-10-28. Official page.
“Centering must be approximately 70/30 or better on the front and 90/10 or better on the back.”
On the front line alone, a worst axis worse than ~65/35 and up to ~70/30 meets the NM 7 line but not the NM-MT 8 line. Ratio pages: 70/30.
PSA adds: "A 5% leeway is given to the front centering minimum standards for cards which grade PSA 7 or better." A card inside the published figure meets it; up to 5 points beyond may still pass on strong eye appeal.
| Grade | Front | Back |
|---|---|---|
| GEM-MT 10 | ~55/45 | 75/25 |
| MINT 9 | ~60/40 | 90/10 |
| NM-MT 8 | ~65/35 | 90/10 |
| NM 7 | ~70/30 | 90/10 |
| EX-MT 6 | 80/20 | 90/10 |
| EX 5 | 85/15 | 90/10 |
| VG-EX 4 | 85/15 | 90/10 |
| VG 3 | 90/10 | 90/10 |
| GOOD 2 | 90/10 | 90/10 |
| FR 1.5 | ~90/10 | ~90/10 |
| PR 1 | — | — |
“~” is the company’s own “approximately”.
NM 7: ~70/30 front, 90/10 back. PSA says "approximately", so the line carries grader discretion. As published: "Centering must be approximately 70/30 or better on the front and 90/10 or better on the back."
NM-MT 8 needs ~65/35 front, 90/10 back, against ~70/30 front, 90/10 back for NM 7.
On the published front lines alone, a worst axis worse than ~65/35 and up to ~70/30 meets the NM 7 line but not the NM-MT 8 line. Of the ratios with their own page: 70/30. Corners, edges and surface can hold or lower the grade. PSA adds: "A 5% leeway is given to the front centering minimum standards for cards which grade PSA 7 or better." A card inside the published figure meets it; up to 5 points beyond may still pass on strong eye appeal.
Compare the two borders on each axis: a card whose left border is 57% of left plus right is 57/43. Services judge the worse axis, front and back separately. SlabbyPrep reads both from a photo and shows each border to a hundredth of a millimetre; on synthetic test photos, 97% of the readings it shows without a warning are within 1 percentage point (the methodology page has the full results).
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