Gem Mint

Gem Mint is the label PSA attaches to its perfect 10 grade: a card with pristine surfaces, crisp corners and edges, and centering within tight tolerances. Other companies use similar language — CGC has Gem Mint 10 with Pristine 10 above it, while Beckett's Pristine 10 and Black Label sit at the top of its scale.

The gap between a 9 and a 10 is where the money is: for popular cards, the Gem Mint copy often sells for a multiple of the grade below, even though the visual difference can be nearly invisible to the naked eye. That price cliff is why submitters obsess over centering and print lines before sending cards in, and why pop reports at grade 10 get so much attention.