Read from TAG’s grading rubric. Back figures shown are TAG’s TCG figures; sports backs are looser. Checked 2026-10-28. Official page.
“Front image centered within a tolerance of ~55/45 and back image within ~70/30 (Sports), or ~65/35 (TCG).”
“Front image centered within a tolerance of ~51/49 and back image within ~54.5/45.5 (Sports) or ~52/48 (TCG).”
On the front line alone, a worst axis up to ~51/49 meets the Pristine 10 line, the top published line. A worst axis worse than ~51/49 and up to ~55/45 meets the Gem Mint 10 line but not the Pristine 10 line. Ratio pages: 50/50 (Pristine 10) · 55/45 (Gem Mint 10).
| Grade | Front | Back (TCG) |
|---|---|---|
| Pristine 10 | ~51/49 | ~52/48 |
| Gem Mint 10 | ~55/45 | ~65/35 |
| Mint 9 | ~60/40 | ~75/25 |
| 8.5 | ~62.5/37.5 | ~85/15 |
| NM-MT 8 | ~65/35 | ~95/5 |
| 7.5 | ~67.5/32.5 | — |
| NM 7 | ~70/30 | — |
| 6.5 | ~72.5/27.5 | — |
| EX-MT 6 | ~75/25 | — |
| 5.5 | ~77.5/22.5 | — |
| EX 5 | ~80/20 | — |
| 4.5 | ~82.5/17.5 | — |
| VG-EX 4 | ~85/15 | — |
| 3.5 | ~87.5/12.5 | — |
| VG 3 | ~90/10 | — |
| 2.5 | ~92.5/7.5 | — |
| Good 2 | ~95/5 | — |
| Fair 1.5 | ~98.3/1.7 | — |
| Poor 1 | — | — |
“~” is the company’s own “approximately”.
Gem Mint 10: ~55/45 front, ~65/35 back (TCG). TAG says "approximately", so the line carries grader discretion. The back figure is TAG’s TCG line; for sports cards it is ~70/30. As published: "Front image centered within a tolerance of ~55/45 and back image within ~70/30 (Sports), or ~65/35 (TCG)."
Pristine 10 needs ~51/49 front, ~52/48 back (TCG); Gem Mint 10 needs ~55/45 front, ~65/35 back (TCG). Pristine 10, as published: "Front image centered within a tolerance of ~51/49 and back image within ~54.5/45.5 (Sports) or ~52/48 (TCG)."
On the published front lines alone, a worst axis up to ~51/49 meets the Pristine 10 line, the top published line. A worst axis worse than ~51/49 and up to ~55/45 meets the Gem Mint 10 line but not the Pristine 10 line. Of the ratios with their own page, 50/50 reaches Pristine 10 and 55/45 reaches Gem Mint 10. Corners, edges and surface can only hold or lower the grade.
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).
All six services by grade · TAG standards and fees · TAG grading cost · how to measure centering · is it worth grading? Get the verdict
By game: Pokémon cards · Yu-Gi-Oh! cards · Magic cards · One Piece cards · Lorcana cards · Sports cards