Grading

Comics

The tables for the Comic and Trading Card grading scales are shown further down the page.

In an item’s description we may also detail what we call Grading or Condition notes. These may list particular faults of note or faults we feel may not be visible in the pictures. These Grading/Condition notes will have been taken into account when assigning the grade. They are not all encompassing but are there to provide a higher level detail and should be used with the grade and pictures to see the quality of the items for sale.

Grading can be quite subjective so if you feel that you have received something that doesn't match the grade allocated please email contact@valleycomics.co.uk and we will try our best to rectify the situation.  

We use an abbreviated grading scale for comics with a value of up to about £5.

We use the more detailed 10 Point Scale for grading comics valued over £5 or pre 1980.

Abbreviated Grading Scale:

Grade

Abbreviation

Includes

Near Mint

NM

GM

MT

NM/MT – We don’t grade anything higher than this level

NM+

NM – Normally the highest level we’ll grade a comic to

NM-

Very Fine

VFN

VFN/NM

VFN+

VFN

VFN-

Fine

FN

FN/VFN

FN+

FN

FN-

Very Good

VG

VG/FN

VG+

VG

VG-

Good

GD

GD/VG

GD+

GD

GD-

Fair

FR

FR/GD

FR

Poor

PR

Poor

10 Point Scale:

Grade

Abbreviation

10 Point Scale

Gem Mint

GM

10.0

Mint

MT

9.9

Near Mint/Mint

NM/MT

9.8

Near Mint+

NM+

9.6

Near Mint

NM

9.4

Near Mint-

NM-

9.2

Very Fine/Near Mint

VFN/NM

9.0

Very Fine+

VFN+

8.5

Very Fine

VFN

8.0

Very Fine -

VFN-

7.5

Fine/Very Fine

FN/VFN

7.0

Fine+

FN+

6.5

Fine

FN

6.0

Fine-

FN-

5.5

Very Good/Fine

VG/FN

5.0

Very Good+

VG+

4.5

Very Good

VG

4.0

Very Good-

VG-

3.5

Good/Very Good

GD/VG

3.0

Good+

GD+

2.5

Good

GD

2.0

Good-

GD-

1.8

Fair/Good

FR/GD

1.5

Fair

FR

1.0

Poor

PR

0.5

We use a similar grading system for trading cards.

Grade

Abbreviation

10 Point Scale

Gem Mint

GM

10.0

Mint

MT

9.0

Near Mint/Mint

NM/MT

8.0

Near Mint

NM

7.0

Excellent/ Mint

EX/MT

6.0

Excellent

EX

5.0

Very Good/Excellent

VG/EX

4.0

Very Good

VG

3.0

Good

GD

2.0

Fair

FR

1.5

Poor

PR

1.0