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