BGS (Beckett)

BGS, Beckett Grading Services, is the grading arm of Beckett, which is known for price guides and magazines about collectible cards. BGS was established in the late 1990s and today also grades Pokémon cards. Beckett slabs are recognisable because they show subgrades alongside the overall grade.

Subgrades

In addition to an overall grade, BGS gives separate grades for four aspects of the card: centering, corners, edges and surface. They appear on the label, so you can see where the card is strong or weak. Two cards with the same overall grade can have different subgrades, and some collectors look at them when comparing. See also centering.

The scale

The scale runs from 1 to 10 and allows half grades. The name Gem Mint is applied to 9.5, while a clean 10 is called Pristine. A very rare category, the Black Label, is awarded when all four subgrades are 10, and slabs with that label look different. How collectors value them varies. More detail is in the grading scale.

Differences from PSA

• BGS uses subgrades and half grades; PSA mainly uses whole grades and no subgrades.
• The slabs differ in design and thickness, and the label is laid out differently.
• The market has different preferences: how much a BGS grade is worth compared with the same number from PSA depends on the card and the moment.

Verification and population

Slabs carry a certification number that can be checked with the company, and the company publishes a population overview; see population reports. Such checks matter in particular because counterfeit slabs exist; see fake slabs.

The subgrades make it possible to see why a card received the grade it did. A card with weak centering but flawless corners, edges and surface comes out differently from one that is evenly good on all four. When comparing slabs it can therefore be useful to read the whole label and not just the large number. At the same time, subgrades are no guarantee that an assessment would be identical a second time; at Beckett too, the judging is done by people.

When BGS is considered

Cards with very good centering and clean corners can come out well in the subgrade assessment. Many collectors believe BGS pays off most for cards whose subgrades are evenly high, but that is an opinion, not a rule. See also card grading, CGC and is grading worth it?.