{ "url": "https://www.moonstonehq.com/articles/the-half-point", "slug": "the-half-point", "title": "The Half Point: A BGS 9.5 Is Worth More Than a CGC 10, and the Tape Now Proves It", "summary": "On 90 cards where all three graders have real sold tape, the median CGC 10 fetches 51.1% of the PSA 10 price and the median BGS 9.5 fetches 53.6%. Head to head on 91 cards, the BGS half point beats the CGC whole point on 52 of them. A CGC 9.5, meanwhile, is worth about a quarter of a PSA 10. The grade on the label means nothing until you know whose label it is.", "section": "Data forensics", "published": "2026-09-02", "readMinutes": 7, "publisher": "moonstone", "findings": [ { "value": "53.6%", "measures": "BGS 9.5 as a share of PSA 10", "basis": "90 cards with all three graders' tape" }, { "value": "51.1%", "measures": "CGC 10 as a share of PSA 10", "basis": "same 90 cards, same day" }, { "value": "52 of 91", "measures": "cards where BGS 9.5 outprices CGC 10", "basis": "median ratio 1.07x" }, { "value": "24.7%", "measures": "CGC 9.5 as a share of PSA 10", "basis": "73 cards, the cheapest rung that still says gem-adjacent" } ], "tables": [ { "title": "How steep is the last step? (moonstone graded tape through August 29, 2026)", "columns": [ "Step", "Cards", "Median ratio" ], "rows": [ { "Step": "PSA 10 over PSA 9", "Cards": "344", "Median ratio": "3.60x" }, { "Step": "CGC 10 over CGC 9", "Cards": "167", "Median ratio": "2.34x" }, { "Step": "BGS 9.5 over BGS 9", "Cards": "34", "Median ratio": "1.85x" }, { "Step": "CGC 10 over CGC 9.5", "Cards": "77", "Median ratio": "1.76x" } ] }, { "title": "BGS 9.5 versus CGC 10: the eight widest and the six narrowest of the 91 cards", "columns": [ "Card", "BGS 9.5 (comps)", "CGC 10 (comps)", "Ratio" ], "rows": [ { "Card": "[Sylveon ex](/card/sv08.5-156), [Prismatic Evolutions](/set/prismatic%20evolutions)", "BGS 9.5 (comps)": "$1,112.78 (9)", "CGC 10 (comps)": "$489.50 (28)", "Ratio": "2.27x" }, { "Card": "[Greninja ex](/card/sv06-214), [Twilight Masquerade](/set/twilight%20masquerade)", "BGS 9.5 (comps)": "$650 (14)", "CGC 10 (comps)": "$323 (53)", "Ratio": "2.01x" }, { "Card": "[Jolteon ex](/card/sv08.5-153), [Prismatic Evolutions](/set/prismatic%20evolutions)", "BGS 9.5 (comps)": "$350 (17)", "CGC 10 (comps)": "$176.51 (25)", "Ratio": "1.98x" }, { "Card": "[Mega Latias ex](/card/me01-181), [Mega Evolution](/set/mega%20evolution)", "BGS 9.5 (comps)": "$195.90 (8)", "CGC 10 (comps)": "$109.50 (51)", "Ratio": "1.79x" }, { "Card": "[Deoxys VMAX](/card/swsh12.5gg-GG45), [Crown Zenith Galarian Gallery](/set/crown%20zenith%20galarian%20gallery)", "BGS 9.5 (comps)": "$110 (11)", "CGC 10 (comps)": "$67 (60)", "Ratio": "1.64x" }, { "Card": "[Mew ex](/card/sv04.5-232), [Paldean Fates](/set/paldean%20fates)", "BGS 9.5 (comps)": "$1,912.50 (42)", "CGC 10 (comps)": "$1,196.50 (172)", "Ratio": "1.60x" }, { "Card": "[Victini](/card/sv10.5w-172), [White Flare](/set/white%20flare)", "BGS 9.5 (comps)": "$940 (8)", "CGC 10 (comps)": "$594.99 (17)", "Ratio": "1.58x" }, { "Card": "[Umbreon ex](/card/sv08.5-161), [Prismatic Evolutions](/set/prismatic%20evolutions)", "BGS 9.5 (comps)": "$3,649.97 (74)", "CGC 10 (comps)": "$2,332.50 (81)", "Ratio": "1.56x" }, { "Card": "[Latias ex](/card/sv08-239), [Surging Sparks](/set/surging%20sparks)", "BGS 9.5 (comps)": "$220.62 (8)", "CGC 10 (comps)": "$417.50 (42)", "Ratio": "0.53x" }, { "Card": "[Ivysaur](/card/me01-134), [Mega Evolution](/set/mega%20evolution)", "BGS 9.5 (comps)": "$38 (9)", "CGC 10 (comps)": "$78.50 (59)", "Ratio": "0.48x" }, { "Card": "[Charizard VMAX](/card/swsh3-20), [Darkness Ablaze](/set/darkness%20ablaze)", "BGS 9.5 (comps)": "$72.50 (24)", "CGC 10 (comps)": "$153.75 (41)", "Ratio": "0.47x" }, { "Card": "[Pikachu](/card/sv03.5-173), [151](/set/151)", "BGS 9.5 (comps)": "$64 (11)", "CGC 10 (comps)": "$170 (81)", "Ratio": "0.38x" }, { "Card": "[Team Rocket's Moltres ex](/card/sv10-229), [Destined Rivals](/set/destined%20rivals)", "BGS 9.5 (comps)": "$110 (11)", "CGC 10 (comps)": "$349.99 (49)", "Ratio": "0.31x" }, { "Card": "[Charmeleon](/card/sv03.5-169), [151](/set/151)", "BGS 9.5 (comps)": "$42 (8)", "CGC 10 (comps)": "$188.75 (29)", "Ratio": "0.22x" } ] } ], "charts": [], "sections": [ "The cliff is the grader's, not the card's", "Where the half point beats the whole point", "The floor: a BGS 9.5 outranks a PSA 9" ], "method": [ "Source: the moonstone daily graded snapshot table, latest snapshot per card and grade as of August 29, 2026, covering 518 cards across PSA 9 and 10, CGC 9, 9.5 and 10, and BGS 9 and 9.5. The snapshot tape is not daily on every card: 360 of the 518 carry an August 28 or 29 reading, while 158 were last read earlier, 109 of them on August 12 and three as far back as July 21. Every cross-grader figure quoted here (the 91-card head-to-head, the 90-card three-grader panel, the 73-card CGC 9.5 cut and the 95-card BGS-against-PSA-9 cut) rests entirely on August 28 and 29 readings; the stale legs sit only in the PSA 10 over PSA 9 row of the ladder table, 56 of its 344 pairs, and dropping them moves that row from 3.60x to 3.68x on 288 pairs. Gates: PSA rungs require 20+ verified sold comps, CGC and BGS rungs 8+, since third-party tape is thinner by construction; all figures are medians of individually verified sold listings, never asks. Ratios divide sold medians recorded in the same window; comp windows can differ by days across graders, which adds noise in both directions on fast-moving cards. Cards are keyed to the moonstone catalog for linking; 509 of the 518 resolve. Sample sizes are printed beside every quoted figure precisely because several BGS rows sit near the gate. Not financial advice." ], "terms": "Figures are moonstone's own recorded measurements, dated as published. Quote them with the population stated beside them. The article at `url` is the human form of this file." }