Whether you are starting a new collection, trying to sell an old collection, or are curious to know if your childhood baseball card collection holds any value,   it is important to know the specific criteria by which baseball cards are valued.  As the marketplace for antiques and collectibles moves further and further into the online world, buyers and sellers must have a universal system by which they determine an item’s worth.  When it comes to baseball cards, value is determined based on a “grading system.”  Although you must have your cards graded by a professional sports card grading company if you wish to sell your collection to a dealer, being knowledgeable about how to value your collection without the help of a professional will make you a more savvy consumer and help you to build a valuable collection in the future.

So, does your collection “make the grade?”  Here is a list of the value criteria followed by industry professionals:

Pre-1981 Baseball Cards

Pre-1981 cards are graded in three difference categories of preservation:

1. Near Mint (NR MT)
2. Excellent (EX)
3. Very Good (VG)

These categories were based on the fact that very few cards are able to survive up to 100 years of buying, selling, trading, and general handling.  The fair market value and pricing of these baseball cards are dependent upon which of the three categories they fall under.

Cards that fall below these three categories are then split up into three more categories:

1.  Good Condition – valued at half the price of cards in “Very Good (VG)” condition
2.  Fair Condition – valued at half the price of cards in “Good” condition
3.  Poor Condition – Little to no market value except when it comes to extremely rare and expensive cards (in these cases, the value is negotiable)

1981-Present Baseball Cards

Since newer, fresh from the pack baseball cards make up a large majority of this category, only a very few percentage make up what independent professional sport card grading companies consider perfect “mint” condition.  Near mint condition cards are priced at 75% of what the industry considers a mint condition card, and excellent condition cards are priced at 40% of the mint condition card.

A general breakdown of how cards are placed in certain condition categories (information courtesy of collect.com):

Mint Condition (MT)

To be considered in Mint condition, the card’s borders must exist in a ratio of no greater than 60/40 side to side and top to bottom

The card must also be:

* A perfect card
* Well-centered, with parallel borders that appear equal to the naked eye. Four sharp, square corners
* No creases, edge dents, surface scratches, paper flaws, loss of luster, yellowing or fading, regardless of age
* No imperfectly printed card — out of register, badly cut or ink flawed — or card stained by contact with gum, wax or other substances can be considered truly Mint, even if new out of the pack

Near Mint Condition (NM MT)

Generally, to be considered in NM/M condition, a card’s borders must exist in a ratio of no greater than 65/35 side to side and top to bottom

The card must also be:

*  A nearly perfect card
*  Well-centered, with at least three sharp, square corners
*  No creases, edge dents, surface scratches, paper flaws, loss of luster, yellowing or fading, regardless of age
*  No imperfectly printed card — out of register, badly cut or ink flawed — or card stained by contact with gum, wax or other substances can be considered Near Mint/ Mint, even if new out of the pack. 


Excellent Condition (EX)

*  Corners are still fairly sharp with only moderate wear
*  Card borders may be off-center as much as 80/20
*  No creases. May have very minor gum, wax or product stains, front or back
*  Surfaces may show slight loss of luster from rubbing across other cards

Very Good Condition (VG)

*  Show obvious handling
*  Corners rounded and/ or perhaps showing minor creases
*  Other minor creases may be visible
*  Surfaces may exhibit loss of luster, but all printing is intact
*  May show major gum, wax or other packaging stains
*  No major creases, tape marks or extraneous markings or writing
*  All four borders visible, though the ratio may be as poor as 95/5
*  Exhibits honest wear.

Good Condition(G)  

*  A well-worn card, but exhibits no intentional damage or abuse
*  May have major or multiple creases and/or corners rounded well beyond the border
*  A Good card will generally sell for about 50 percent the value of a card in Very Good condition.

Fair Condition (F)

* Shows excessive wear, along with damage or abuse
*  Will show all the wear characteristics of a Good card, along with such damage as thumb tack holes in or near margins, evidence of having been taped or pasted, perhaps small tears around the edges, or creases so heavy as to break the cardboard.
Backs may show minor added pen or pencil writing, or be missing small bits of paper

*Still, basically a complete card

*A Fair card will generally sell for 50 percent the value of a Good specimen.

Poor Condition (P)

* A card that is incredibly worn
*  Corners or other areas may be torn off
*  Card may have been trimmed, show holes from a paper punch or have been used for BB gun practice
*  Front may have extraneous pen or pencil writing, or other defacement
*  Major portions of front or back design may be missing
*  Not a pretty sight
*  In addition to these terms, collectors may encounter intermediate grades, such as VG-EX or EX-MT. These cards usually have characteristics of both the lower and higher grades, and are generally priced midway between those two values.


Other information related to the value of you baseball card collection:

*  If you baseball cards have been professionally graded and authenticated by a sports card grading company, they will hold a higher value.  Often when the cards are authenticated by a third-party grading service, they are placed in a  protective plastic cover along with their certificate of authenticity.  These cards will be valued and sold at a higher price.  

*  For more detailed information on grading your baseball card collection, check the SCD grading guide.This guide has everything you need to know about baseball card valuing and authentication!

Also, for accurate and fast valuing, try the iTaggit ValueRange It tool!  Simply enter the description of your baseball card and click SEARCH, and the ValueRange It tool provides you with the current fair market value of your card in seconds!