Grading and condition are the most difficult areas of philately for many people since these two factors are so important to stamp values. Every stamp, no matter how cheap or how expensive, can be graded. Grading means assigning the quality of the stamp to a series of words that are part of philatelic jargon. The terms that philatelists use to grade their stamps (in ascending order are Poor, Fair, Good, Very Good, Fine, Very Fine, Extremely Fine. In recent years some philatelists (primarily sellers), not content with seven gradations and their combinations (i.e., Fine to Very Fine), have added another term, Superb, naturally at the top of the scale. In grading, as in currencies, there has been inflation. And again as in currencies, the worst inflation has bee in the last decade. When another grading rung is added to the top of the ladder, the stamps don’t get any better. All that happens is that every stamp goes up a little higher in grade.
Poor refers to only the poorest of stamps, often not even recognizable as a particular variety, due to its faults. Fair is not quite as bad; Good a bit better. A Good stamp may have tears, will have thins or creases, is generally off center (referring to how the design is placed within the margins of the stamp), and really not of pleasing appearance. This lower triad of stamp grades is not sought out by collectors and would be sold individually only if a great rarity is found in the grade and cannot be afforded in a higher grade. Some collectors on a budget may buy these lower grade stamps, but stamps from this group are usually sold in large lots—that is, many stamps grouped together at a low and attractive price. In almost no case should a stamp from this triad sell for as much as 10 percent of the catalog value.
Very Good is generally the minimum grade in which stamps are traded as individual items. A Very Good stamp is usually ff center and may contain one or more small faults that do not detract from its appearance. The small fault may be a thin or a crease, but not a large tear or a face scrape (those being major faults). A Fine stamp has no faults, though it ma not be perfectly centered. A Very Fine stamp is nearly perfectly centered. An Extremely Fine stamp is perfectly centered and of an appearance that should please the most discriminating of collectors. What the grading term Superb means is not really clear; just suffice it to say that if grade inflation continues, future editions of this book might well include definitions for “Extremely Superb.”
Used or cancelled stamps are graded by the same criteria as mint ones, except that the cancellation must not be too heavy for them to be graded highly.
Cross grades are often used to define stamps more accurately. Thus a collector will often see Fine to Very Fine written, which means the stamp straddles the two grades. Such distinctions are valid because it is extremely difficult on many stamps to decide on one category or the other. To call a particular specimen Very Fine might be to overrate it, but to call it Fine might be to underrate it. Thus a compromise is reached by calling it Fine to Very Fine. It would not be too cynical to note that grading depends on who is grading a particular stamp, and that a person’s perception of the grade of a stamp is influenced by whether or not he owns it. This is why in baseball the home team doesn’t call the balls and strikes. But in philately, the home team does call the pitches in the sense that each collector and dealer retains the right to grade each stamp he sells and to reject a price he does not feel is commensurate with the grade of the stamp involved. So it behooves even a beginning collector to gain knowledge of grading skills.