How to spot a fake slab: CGC and SGC checks

To spot a fake slab, check four things in order: the cert record on the grading company’s own site, the holder, the label, and the card itself against the record. A real cert number copied from a genuine slab would pass the first check on its own, so each check backs up the others. CGC publishes the most to check against: its label’s security features, its holder’s construction and an image of every card it seals. SGC publishes its cert format and what it does with tampered holders, but describes no holder security features.

Our guide to buying graded cards online covers listings, platform protections and return windows.

What can a fake slab be?

Three cases call for different checks:

• A copied holder and label around any card, possibly with a real cert number copied from a genuine slab.
• A genuine holder that was opened and sealed again with a different card inside.
• A genuine card in a copied slab with a higher grade than the card ever got.

A lookup alone can miss all three when the number was copied from a genuine slab. Matching the record, including CGC’s images, to the card in hand is the check that can catch them.

What should the cert record show?

Look the number up on the grader’s own site, typed in by hand.

At CGC, the Verify tool shows the card’s record and grade, and CGC images every card after sealing it, so the record includes pictures. Those images let you check that a CGC-certified card is genuine. Below the images, a link opens the card in CGC’s population report.

At SGC, the label’s color tells you what the cert number should look like. SGC’s lookup asks for all 7 digits on a black label, and all 11 characters on a green or white label, written as seven characters, a dash and three more. A black SGC label with an 11-character code, or a green one with 7 digits, does not match SGC’s own format.

Stop if any of these happens:

• No record comes up, or the record describes a different card or grade.
• The same number appears on two slabs. Each CGC cert number is unique to its card, so at least one of the two is not genuine.
• An SGC record has been switched off. SGC can deactivate the certification of any card or holder it believes is altered, counterfeit or tampered with.

Which odd results are normal for older slabs?

Some mismatches are expected, and they are not signs of a fake:

• Gem Mint 9.5 on the label, Gem Mint 10 online. CGC counts 9.5s from CGC Trading Cards and CSG as 10s and shows them that way in its tools.
• Perfect 10 on the label. CGC no longer assigns it, but the grade is still supported for slabs graded before the 2023 merger.
• A CSG or CGC Trading Cards label. Both are older labels, and their slabs are searchable in CGC’s Verify tool.

What should the holder look like?

CGC’s holder is a sturdy, ultrasonically welded case that resists impacts and tampering, with the welding holding the card in place. Its standard holder is about 3.15 by 5.30 inches. Plain checks you can make:

• The seal. Look along every edge for gaps, glue, pry marks or a seam that has been opened.
• The card. It should sit still in the holder, not slide around.
• The stack. All CGC holders lock and stack together, and in June 2023 CGC said CGC Cards holders stack with CGC Trading Cards and CSG holders. A suspect CGC slab that will not lock onto one you know is genuine does not behave like one.

Some differences are normal:

• Thick holders. CGC makes holders in five thicknesses for thick cards, up to 7.25mm.
• A slightly thicker standard holder with an inner sleeve. CGC uses it, at its discretion, for small or odd-sized cards that need a custom sleeve to stay in place.

At SGC, a black insert sits inside the holder, and SGC custom-cuts it for some items. SGC holders are not waterproof or UV-resistant. Beyond that, compare a suspect slab with an SGC slab you know is genuine.

What should the label show?

A CGC label has five anti-counterfeit features: microprinting, UV ink, holographic foil, and a cert number and barcode unique to the card. The back of the label carries a QR code. The practical check is a side-by-side with a genuine CGC label under a 10-times loupe and a UV light. Then check that:

• The QR code opens the card on CGC’s own site, at the same cert number.
• The color fits the grade. CGC gives every Pristine 10 a gold label. Its yellow Signature Series label is for autographs a CGC or JSA representative watched being signed, and its CGC x JSA label is for other signed cards whose autographs JSA authenticated. A gold label on a card graded 9.5, or a yellow label on an unsigned card, does not fit CGC’s rules.
• The grade name fits CGC’s scale. Each grade has a set name; 8.5, for example, reads NM/Mint+. Our guide to reading a CGC label decodes them.

Does the card match the record?

This is the check aimed at a swapped card. Put CGC’s image beside the card in the slab and compare:

• the centering, border by border
• any print spots, marks or lines on the surface
• the corners and edges
• the card’s set, number and any variant named on the label

A swapped card can be the same card from the same set and still fail here, because centering and small marks differ from copy to copy. For SGC, compare the card with the record’s description and the label.

Also check that a CGC slab could exist at all. CGC does not certify counterfeit cards, and it does not grade rebacked cards or Beta cards with clipped corners. Our guides to fake Pokémon cards and fake Yu-Gi-Oh! cards cover the card checks.

Which checks matter most?

What should you do if a slab fails a check?

Do not open it. Removing a card from a CGC holder voids CGC’s guarantee, and its reholder service takes only cards still in their original holder. Keep the slab, the packaging and the listing, then:

1. Contact the seller or the platform inside its deadline. Our guide to buying graded cards online covers the windows at eBay.
2. Contact the grading company with the cert number and photos of both sides of the slab.
3. If the card came from a rip site’s vault, our guide to whether rip site cards are real explains where each site keeps its cards and how to check one.

The glossary explains a counterfeit card and a slab, and our guide to storing graded cards covers keeping a record of every cert number.

Frequently asked questions

Does eBay check slabs for fakes?

Yes, on eligible listings. In the US, graded cards priced at $200 or more from PSA, SGC, CGC Cards or BGS go through eBay's Authenticity Guarantee, where PSA authenticates each case and label before the card ships to the buyer. No regrading is done.

Are the lines inside the edge of a TAG slab cracks?

Usually not. TAG's clear acrylic shows its ultrasonic welding points more plainly than holders with frosted edges, so on a genuine TAG slab those points can look like cracks inside the edges.

How big is a standard TAG slab?

5.25 by 3.125 inches, for cards up to 50pt thick. That is close to the height and width of a CSG slab, so measure a suspect TAG slab against those figures as well as its cert record.

What if a TAG slab arrives cracked?

TAG reslabs it at no charge if you report the damage within 10 business days of the order arriving, with the order number, the cert number and photos. A slab the owner damaged later costs $15 a card plus shipping to reslab.