Gem Mint

Gem mint describes a card at the top of the grading scale, essentially perfect across centering, corners, edges, and surface. On the common numeric scale it corresponds to the highest grade, and it is the condition that commands the steepest premiums because so few cards qualify.

The reason a gem-mint grade is worth so much more than the grade just below it is scarcity, not a large visual difference. As you climb to the top of the scale, fewer cards meet the standard, so gem-mint survivors of any given card are condition-scarce. Reading a grader's population report shows just how scarce for a particular card. It is why the step from the second-highest grade to the top can multiply a card's value even when the two look nearly identical.