vintage-centering-tolerance

name	vintage-centering-tolerance
description	Use when measuring centering on pre-1980 cards. Tolerances are MUCH looser than modern.

Vintage Centering Tolerance

60/40 acceptable for vintage 9, 65/35 for 8, 70/30 for 7. Don't apply modern 55/45 caps to vintage cards.

Era-tolerance table

Era	PSA 10 ceil	PSA 9 ceil	PSA 8 ceil
1948-1959	55/45	60/40	65/35
1960-1969	55/45	60/40	65/35
1970-1980	50/50	55/45	60/40
Pre-war (-1948)	60/40	65/35	70/30

Why looser on vintage

Vintage cards were factory-cut on rougher equipment. Modern collectors accept era-typical shifts because:

1. Few perfectly-centered survive 70+ years
2. Original cuts were less precise
3. Pop reports show <5% vintage cards meet modern 55/45 standard

Common centering mistakes

1. Measuring to colored frame instead of inner border (correct = inner border)
2. Applying modern tolerances to vintage submission
3. Ignoring back centering on vintage (often more shifted than front)

Where this fits in the X3 empire

Tied to the Concierge's grader-recommendation and the Sniper tool's vintage pop math.