Grading Overview

Our grading scale is used to evaluate the overall condition of a card. Cards are rated in four categories; centering, corners, edges, and surface. Each category has a maximum point value of 10 which may be awarded to the card. We apply an interim grade after adding up all four point values and calculating an average. The card is then reviewed for three conditional components, which may decrease the overall grade of the card. Once complete, the card is issued its final grade. Hearts goal is to provide a fair, non-subjective, grading standard. That standard eliminates grader bias, creates transparency in the grading process, and generates consistency throughout the authentication and grading industry.

Our Grading Process

We grade cards on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being the worst condition and 10 being the best conditions. Hearts does not issue fractional grades as we believe this to be unnecessary and over complicates the grading scale. Once a final grade is determined, its value is logged into our reporting and records system, as well as all supporting notes and jottings on the cards condition. The final grade is printed on the label, which also includes the sub-grades. Additionally, the abbreviated description is applied to the label, beneath the grade. Cards that receive a grade of 10 may have one of two descriptions - GEM MINT or PRISTINE. A card graded as a GEM MINT has one minor flaw, while a card that is flawless receives a PRISTINE rating.

Grading Scale

Grading Standards

Conditional Tests

After a card is evaluated using our grading standard an interim grade is calculated. The cards sub-grades are further reviewed using three conditional tests in order to refine the final grade of the card. The tests are in place to ensure cards receive a grade befitting of their overall condition. In other words, these conditional rules are in place to ensure that only the best cards receive a final grade of 8, 9, or 10.

Conditional Test 1

When two sub-grades are equal to each other and smaller than the interim final grade, the final grade will be lowered to match the two matching smaller sub-grades.

Example

Step 1: Evaluation

We evaluate each card using our grading standards. The evaluation includes an exhaustive review of the corners, surface, edges, and centering. We also evaluate the card using several techniques to determine if the card is authentic and unaltered.

Step 2: Reporting

Our team notes every blemish and conditionally anomaly in our database. We map and condition issues geographically, using a 3 by 3 grid to specify the location of any anomaly.

Step 3:

Interim Grade

Using the grading standard, sub-grades are issued to the card. The sum of the sub-grades is determined and divided by the number of categories which received a grade. The result is the interim grade.

The sub-grades are further evaluated using the conditional tests to determine if any are applicable. Note the 6 sub-grade issues to surface condition in the above example. Conditional test 2 applies, resulting in a final grade of 7 or near mint.

Step 4: Conditional Tests

Step 5:

Final Grade

The card is then issued its final grade. The card is then securely handed over to our quality assurance (QA) team for a final review. Once cleared by the QA team, the label is printed and the card is permanently sealed. The QA team then ships the card back to the client.