It's fairly clear that PSA’s grading standards have tightened up over the years. Older certification numbers tend to bring less on the market due to the hobby’s understanding that many cards graded years ago would be unlikely to achieve the same grade if submitted today. I’ve not heard similar claims about SGC grading, so I’m curious if you think SGC’s grading standards have also gotten stricter over the years or remained fairly consistent.
In a related vein, I’m curious whether you think SGC and PSA consciously try to use the same standards so that the same card would get the same grade at either company. Do you think they have an interest in this, especially now that they are both owned by the same umbrella company? I personally notice variation in the middle grades on vintage cards, but I'd like to hear an opinion from someone constantly immersed in the grading arena.
I look fwd to Eric's take but I have noticed about the same difference in SGC old vs. new. Here's an article with a small gallery:
https://cardhoundvintage.com/psa-sgc-and-the-old-label-new-label-trend/
From my experience, SGC has remained mostly consistent for grading vintage. A few years ago, they did ease up on how strict they were with ultra modern cards. This seemed to be in line with their push to expand their base.
PSA and SGC are run independently and as far as I know don’t try to coordinate their grading scales. PSA did recently change their centering standards for a 10 to the same that SGC uses but I think that was more a common sense thing than matching SGC.
