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CGC 9.5 to PSA 9: The Usual Crossover Result and How to Set Your Minimum

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A CGC 9.5 to PSA 9 result is what the population data points to for most Pokémon cards. With no 9.5 on PSA’s scale, the slab that comes back says 9 or 10, and on six of the nine cards we compared, the slice of CGC’s report held by Mint+ 9.5s lines up with PSA 9s.

That makes the minimum grade the real decision. Set it at 10 and you are betting on the minority case; set it at 9 and you are paying a full PSA fee to trade a half-point for a different label. Neither PSA nor CGC publishes how crossovers turn out, and every figure on odds here is our own estimate, method included.

As of October 23, 2026: PSA grades half points only from PSA 2 through PSA 9. CGC’s current 9.5 is Mint+, a grade below Gem Mint 10; any older slab reading CGC Gem Mint 9.5 is a Gem Mint 10 under CGC’s own rules. PSA’s cheapest open service is Standard at $59.99, and the full fee applies whether or not the card crosses.

Which CGC 9.5 do you have? The 2023 relabel

Before any odds, check the label. CGC merged its trading card and sports card arms into CGC Cards in 2023, with “New CGC Cards services and fees, effective July 11, 2023”, and it changed what 9.5 means. In CGC’s words: “Cards previously graded Gem Mint 9.5 are exactly equivalent to Gem Mint 10 under the updated grading scale”. Its later notice adds that “All cards submitted for ReHolder with a Gem Mint 9.5 grade automatically convert to the CGC Cards Gem Mint 10 grade.”

So there are two 9.5s in circulation:

  • Old label, Gem Mint 9.5, from CGC Trading Cards before the change. This is a Gem Mint 10 on today’s scale, and CGC’s population report counts it that way: CGC notes that its report reflects the current grading scale. A crossover of this slab is really a CGC 10 to PSA 10 question, covered in our Gem Mint 10 to PSA 10 guide.
  • Current label, Mint+ 9.5. CGC’s scale describes it as “a card that displays premium eye appeal for a Mint card.” This is the grade the rest of this page is about.

The difference shows up in old auction records. In October 2022, Goldin sold a 1st Edition Thin Stamp Charizard labelled “CGC GEM MINT 9.5” for $36,600 (10/06/22). That is a Gem Mint 10 sale by today’s rules, and it says nothing about what a current Mint+ 9.5 is worth.

CGC 9.5 to PSA 9: our population estimate

The method: rank one card’s numerically graded CGC copies, mark the band filled by Mint+ 9.5s, and check which PSA grades fill the same band on PSA’s ranking of that card. Because PSA has no 9.5, the answer can only be PSA 10, PSA 9, or a split. CGC numbers are from the live CGC report, read October 23, 2026; PSA figures come from archived PSA pages dated by month in the table.

Card (PSA snapshot month) Our estimate: band maps to Mint+ 9.5 band, top % at CGC Top % holding PSA 10
Base Set Unlimited Charizard (PSA Mar 2026) PSA 9 2.0% to 3.0% 0.5%
Base Set Unlimited Mewtwo (Jun 2025) 18% PSA 10, 82% PSA 9 2.4% to 3.6% 2.6%
1st Edition Blastoise (Oct 2025) PSA 9 4.7% to 7.2% 2.8%
1st Edition Venusaur (Jul 2025) PSA 9 6.1% to 7.9% 4.4%
151 Charizard ex 199 (Apr 2025) PSA 9 34.5% to 48.5% 32.9%
Van Gogh Pikachu, SVP 085 (Jan 2026) PSA 9 53.4% to 68.3% 44.9%
Evolving Skies Umbreon VMAX 215 (Jun 2025) PSA 10 55.9% to 60.0% 72.5%
Japanese Base Set Charizard (Jun 2025) PSA 10 4.3% to 5.4% 6.0%
Eevee Heroes Umbreon VMAX 095 (Jul 2025) PSA 10 (only 5 CGC 9.5s) 72.3% to 74.4% 87.0%

For the six PSA 9 rows, PSA’s 9-or-better line sits well below each band’s bottom edge (for instance 9.5% on Unlimited Charizard, 22.0% on Mewtwo, 22.5% on Blastoise, 26.4% on Venusaur, 80.6% on 151 Charizard ex and 90.7% on the Van Gogh Pikachu), so none of those bands reaches down into PSA 8.5.

On 151 Charizard ex, for example, CGC 9.5s fill the band from the top 34.5% to the top 48.5% of CGC’s numeric slabs. PSA’s 10s fill only the top 32.9% of PSA’s, so the whole CGC 9.5 band sits below the PSA 10 line and above the PSA 9 floor. By population, a Mint+ 9.5 of that card is a PSA 9.

The headline, as our estimate: on six of nine cards the band maps entirely or mostly to PSA 9, and on three of nine it maps entirely to PSA 10. That is the sense in which PSA 9 is the usual result. It is not a claim about your card.

Why the three exceptions are what they are

All three exceptions are cards where PSA’s report holds a bigger share of 10s than CGC’s. On the Evolving Skies alt-art Umbreon, PSA 10s are 72.5% of PSA’s numeric copies against 55.9% for all of CGC’s 10 labels combined; on the Japanese Base Set Charizard the figures are 6.0% and 4.3%. When PSA’s 10 shelf is that much deeper, the CGC 9.5 band lands under it. Whether that reflects easier PSA grading or better copies sent to PSA, the counts cannot say.

Minimum grade 9 or 10: what each choice buys

PSA requires a number on every crossover and treats it as a floor: a card that meets “the customer’s specified minimum grade or higher” moves into a PSA holder, and either way “the grading price will be charged.”

  • Minimum 10. Only a PSA 10 opinion moves the card. On the six cards where the band maps to PSA 9, this is a bet against the population data; most attempts would return the card in its CGC holder with the fee spent. On the three PSA 10-leaning cards it lines up with the data. Our separate page on CGC 9.5 to PSA 10 works through that bet.
  • Minimum 9. Either PSA number above 8.5 moves it into PSA plastic. You are swapping CGC’s Mint+ half point for a PSA 9 label, so the case for it rests entirely on whether a PSA 9 of your card sells for more than your CGC 9.5 by at least the fee.
  • Minimum 1. Accepts any numeric grade, which on a 9.5 only adds downside.

Where the estimate can go wrong

Centering decides PSA 10. PSA 10 needs front centering not exceeding “approximately 55/45 percent on the front, and 75/25 percent on the reverse”, the same figures CGC uses for Gem Mint 10. CGC’s Mint+ 9.5 has no centering number at all, only “premium eye appeal”. A Mint+ 9.5 that missed CGC’s 10 on centering is likely to miss PSA’s 10 for the same reason; one that missed it on a tiny print line may not.

PSA 9 is not guaranteed either. The Mint grade at PSA asks for roughly 60/40 front borders. A Mint+ 9.5 should clear that, but PSA grades the card through CGC’s plastic, and a surface flaw it reads differently can still produce an 8.5. With a minimum of 9 that returns the card in its CGC slab.

The submitters differ. People who cross a 9.5 usually believe it is a 10. That pre-screening should improve on the population figures, while the age of the PSA snapshots, from April 2025 to March 2026, means the PSA lines will have moved.

Prices: the missing Mint+ 9.5 and PSA 9 pair

We looked for Goldin sales of the same card as a current Mint+ 9.5 and as a PSA 9, and found none. The only current-label CGC 9.5 sale in our research is a 2025 Japanese Mega Dream ex Mega Charizard X ex, and no PSA copy of it sold in the same window. What we can show is how the adjacent labels priced. All figures are Goldin’s all-in prices, which include its “Buyer’s Premium 22% ($19 min)”.

Card Sale What it shows
Mega Dream ex Mega Charizard X ex (Japanese) CGC Mint+ 9.5 $55 and CGC Gem Mint 10 $94 (both 9/27/26); CGC Pristine 10 $149 (6/21/26) The CGC ladder on one card: each step up the label roughly adds half again or more. The $55 lot hit Goldin’s $19 premium floor on a $36 hammer.
Charizard, Base Set Unlimited CGC Gem Mint 10 $4,964 and PSA 9 $2,480 (same Goldin auction, 2/15/26) A CGC 10 outsold a PSA 9 of this card. A Mint+ 9.5 sits one CGC grade below that 10.
Evolving Skies Umbreon VMAX 215 PSA 9 $2,257 (6/28/26); PSA 10 $4,087 (8/09/26); BGS 9.5 $2,257 (10/18/26) PSA 9 to PSA 10 on this card was a $1,830 step on these two sales. A BGS 9.5 matched the PSA 9 to the dollar.

Our dedicated page on CGC 9.5 vs PSA 9 prices keeps watch for a clean pair. Until one exists, the honest way to decide is to find recent sales of your own card as a CGC Mint+ 9.5 and as a PSA 9, then check whether the gap beats the fee.

Fees for a CGC 9.5 crossover

PSA’s service list, read October 23, 2026, starts at $59.99 for Standard (cards to $1,000), rises to $199.00 for Express (to $2,500) and then $349.00 for Super Express (to $5,000), and shows “Value Services Are Temporarily Paused”. Which of those services take a minimum-grade order is left unstated. PSA’s FAQ adds that its Grader Notes feature is included on crossover orders at Express and above, which may help explain why a 9.5 did not get its 10.

If the slab you hold is an old Gem Mint 9.5, a CGC ReHolder will relabel it as a Gem Mint 10 without regrading, a cheaper route to the higher label than a crossover. Thinking of breaking the CGC case open on your own? Our note on what opening a holder changes covers the risks. The full set of grade pairs, including the step down to CGC 9 to PSA 9, is on the crossover grading hub; for the Umbreon above, the two PSA sales put PSA 10 at $4,087 against $2,257 for a PSA 9.

Frequently Asked Questions

After crossing, is a Mint+ 9.5 a PSA 9 or a PSA 10?

PSA has no 9.5, so a crossover lands on one or the other. By our population comparison, a current CGC Mint+ 9.5 sits in PSA 9 territory on six of the nine cards we checked and in PSA 10 territory on three (Evolving Skies Umbreon VMAX 215, Japanese Base Set Charizard, Eevee Heroes Umbreon VMAX 095).

My slab says Gem Mint 9.5 from before 2023. Is that a Mint+ 9.5 now?

No. Since the July 2023 scale change CGC treats that older label as its Gem Mint 10, and sending one for ReHolder converts the label to Gem Mint 10. Today’s CGC 9.5 is Mint+, a grade below.

What minimum grade should a CGC 9.5 crossover use?

That is your call, but the two choices behave differently. Entering 9 means PSA takes the card into its holder on a 9 or a 10. Entering 10 means only a PSA 10 opinion counts; anything less sends it back in the CGC slab. The fee is charged either way.

Is a CGC 9.5 worth more than a PSA 9?

Our Goldin research turned up no matched sale of a current Mint+ 9.5 and a PSA 9 on one card, so nobody can say from public data. Compare recent sales of your own card in both slabs.

Why does PSA not give 9.5s?

PSA’s scale has half steps from PSA 2 up to PSA 9 and none above. Above PSA 9 the next grade is PSA 10 Gem Mint.

Sources

No grading company publishes crossover pass rates. Any crossover odds on this page are Pokemon Pricing’s estimate, labelled as one, built from the published grading standards and population reports on the dates shown. Fees, populations and sale prices change; check the grading company’s current price list before submitting. This article is collector information, not investment advice. Pokémon and all card names are trademarks of Nintendo, Creatures Inc. and GAME FREAK inc.; Pokemon Pricing is not affiliated with them or with any grading company.

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