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CGC 9 to PSA 9 Crossover: Why the Populations Line Up, and What It Costs

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A CGC 9 to PSA 9 crossover is the closest thing to a like-for-like swap in Pokémon grading, at least on paper. No company publishes a pass rate, but when we lined up both population reports for nine cards, the CGC 9 slice sat at PSA 9 or better on every one of them, bar a small tail on one card.

That makes this the grade where the population math is most encouraging, and on vintage cards the reason is simple: a 9 is high enough that most copies in both reports sit below it, so the two rankings agree near the top. The catch is centering, which the population numbers cannot see, and the fee, which on a cheap card can swallow the price difference between the two slabs.

As of October 23, 2026: PSA crossover requires a minimum grade and bills the full grading price on a miss. Standard is $59.99 per card; PSA’s Value services are paused. Across the nine cards, at least 95% of the CGC 9 band falls on PSA 9 or higher by our estimate, and on two modern Umbreon cards a large share falls on PSA 10.

CGC 9 to PSA 9: what the population reports say

The test works like this. Pick a card, sort CGC’s numeric slabs of it from the top grade downward, and note the stretch the 9s occupy. Then mark the same stretch on PSA’s list for that card and note which PSA grades fill it. Neither grader endorses this comparison; it is Pokemon Pricing’s estimate, and the inputs are the counts on CGC’s live report (read October 23, 2026) and on archived PSA pages (dated per card below).

On Base Set Unlimited Charizard, 3.0% of CGC’s numeric copies grade 9.5 or better and 9.9% grade 9 or better. CGC 9s are the copies in between. On PSA’s side, PSA 9s and 10s make up the top 9.5% of the card. Nearly the whole CGC stretch, 95% of it, falls inside that PSA 9 zone, and the leftover tail touches PSA 8.5.

Card CGC 9s (count) CGC 9 stretch, top % PSA 10 / PSA 9-or-better line (PSA snapshot) Which PSA grades share the stretch
Base Set Unlimited Charizard 1,016 3.0% to 9.9% 0.5% / 9.5% (Mar 2026) 95% PSA 9, the rest PSA 8.5
Base Set Unlimited Mewtwo 869 3.6% to 15.5% 2.6% / 22.0% (Jun 2025) All PSA 9
1st Edition Blastoise 47 7.2% to 15.6% 2.8% / 22.5% (Oct 2025) All PSA 9
1st Edition Venusaur 51 7.9% to 17.9% 4.4% / 26.4% (Jul 2025) All PSA 9
Japanese Base Set Charizard 194 5.4% to 11.5% 6.0% / 27.7% (Jun 2025) 10% PSA 10, the rest PSA 9
Evolving Skies Umbreon VMAX 215 841 60.0% to 86.9% 72.5% / 91.8% (Jun 2025) 46% PSA 10, the rest PSA 9
151 Charizard ex 199 1,914 48.5% to 79.3% 32.9% / 80.6% (Apr 2025) All PSA 9
Van Gogh Pikachu (SVP 085) 1,427 68.3% to 87.5% 44.9% / 90.7% (Jan 2026) All PSA 9
Eevee Heroes Umbreon VMAX 095 46 74.4% to 93.4% 87.0% / 97.4% (Jul 2025) 66% PSA 10, the rest PSA 9

Compare that with the grade half a step down. Our CGC 8.5 to PSA 9 analysis found CGC 8.5 bands scattered from pure PSA 8 to pure PSA 9 depending on the card. At CGC 9 the scatter disappears. Our estimate, stated plainly: by population, a CGC 9 is a PSA 9-or-better card on every one of the nine, with the weakest case at 95%.

Why a 9 lines up when an 8.5 does not

On vintage cards, both companies keep 9s and above to a small top slice of the report, and the two lists agree most at that end. Further down, the reports diverge because the piles of played and mid-grade copies differ so much between graders. A CGC 9 sits high enough on vintage cards (inside the top sixth or so) to stay clear of that noise. On modern cards, where most copies grade 9 or 10 everywhere, CGC 9s are a middle grade, and PSA has handed out so many 10s on some modern cards that the CGC 9 stretch runs right into PSA 10 territory.

The modern upside: CGC 9s that sit on PSA 10s

Two cards stand out. For the Evolving Skies alt-art Umbreon, the PSA 10 line sits at 72.5% of PSA’s numeric copies; CGC’s 9.5-or-better tier is 60.0% of CGC’s. So the upper part of the CGC 9 stretch overlaps PSA 10, and about 46% of it lands there. On the Japanese Eevee Heroes Umbreon VMAX 095 the overlap is 66%, though CGC has graded only 46 copies of that card a 9.

Read that carefully. It does not mean nearly half of CGC 9 Umbreons would get a PSA 10. It means PSA’s report holds a far higher share of 10s on that card than CGC’s, which can come from a stronger submission pool at PSA as easily as from looser grading. The vintage English cards show no such upside: on Base Unlimited Charizard, Mewtwo, Blastoise and Venusaur, the CGC 9 stretch never touches PSA 10. Our separate look at CGC 9 to PSA 10 crossovers goes further into that reach.

Where a CGC 9 crossover goes wrong

The population table assumes the CGC 9s that get sent to PSA are a random sample. They are not, and the bias runs mostly in the submitter’s favour: nobody pays a crossover fee for a 9 they think looks weak. Two things work the other way.

Centering. PSA 9 requires front centering of “approximately 60/40 or better on the front and 90/10 or better on the reverse.” CGC’s scale shows identical 60/40 and 90/10 figures for its 9, yet it ties them to baseball, football and other non-game issues. On game cards, CGC describes its grades without numeric centering limits below Gem Mint 10. A Pokémon card can therefore wear a CGC 9 with borders PSA would call 65/35, and PSA would cap it at 8. PSA does leave itself room (“a small variance may be permitted on occasion based on the card’s overall eye appeal”), but that is discretion, not a rule. Our piece on centering risk covers how to measure borders before you pay.

Snapshot age. PSA’s live population is behind a login, so every PSA figure here comes from an archived page between April 2025 and March 2026. CGC’s figures are current. Modern cards in particular gain thousands of slabs a year, so the PSA lines on Umbreon and 151 Charizard ex will have moved.

The other failure is simply a PSA 8.5 or 8 opinion. With a minimum of 9 that opinion means a return trip in the original plastic, fee paid. PSA’s own wording leaves no doubt: “Full grading fee is charged even if item does not meet minimum grade.” CGC runs the same rule on its own crossover service in the other direction: a card that will not reach the grade “will be returned in its original holder and the full grading fee will still apply.”

Fees against the price gap: two worked cases

Because the grade does not change, the only reason to cross a CGC 9 to PSA 9 is what the market pays for the PSA label. That gap varies hugely by card, and the fee is fixed by the card’s value tier. PSA’s price list, read October 23, 2026, sets Standard at $59.99 for cards insured to $1,000, Express at $199.00 to $2,500, Super Express at $349.00 to $5,000 and Premier at $599.00 to $10,000. PSA does not publish which of these accept crossovers with a minimum grade.

These are our worked examples from Goldin sales, with Goldin’s all-in prices (Goldin lists “Buyer’s Premium 22% ($19 min)”). They ignore shipping, insurance, selling costs and months of turnaround.

  • Shadowless Charizard. A CGC 9 sold for $2,566 (6/15/24) and a PSA 9 for $4,880 (7/14/24). The difference is $2,314. A PSA 9 at that price belongs in Super Express, so the fee is $349.00, and the crossover covers its cost if it succeeds 15.1% of the time. Against a population estimate of the whole band at PSA 9, that bar is low.
  • Van Gogh Pikachu. A CGC 9 sold for $275 (3/06/25) and a PSA 9 for $421 (8/02/25). The difference is $146. Even at the $59.99 Standard fee, the crossover has to work 41.1% of the time just to break even, before shipping both ways.

The same arithmetic with real sales of your card is the most useful thing you can do before submitting. Our CGC vs PSA price difference guide collects more same-grade pairs, and the Shadowless Charizard price history tracks the PSA side.

When the CGC 9 outsells the PSA

Not every pair points the same way. In December 2023 Goldin sold a 1st Edition Charizard in a CGC 9 for $10,980 in the same auction where a PSA 8 brought $9,943 (both 12/20/23). In 2026 a Shadowless CGC 9 sold for $8,845 (9/27/26), well above a Shadowless PSA 8 at $5,557 (7/12/26). A CGC 9 is not worth less than every PSA slab; it usually trails the matching PSA 9, and that shortfall is the gap a crossover tries to capture.

Minimum grade 9 or 10?

PSA’s form insists on a number: “When using the Crossover Service, YOU MUST provide a minimum grade on the submission form.” For a CGC 9 the two sensible settings are 9 and 10.

With 9, the card crosses at PSA 9 or, if PSA thinks it is a 10, at PSA 10, because the minimum is a floor. With 10, only a PSA 10 opinion moves it, and every 9 opinion sends it home in CGC plastic with the fee spent. On the vintage English cards, our population estimate gives a CGC 9 no overlap with PSA 10, so a minimum of 10 there is a bet against the data. On the two Umbreons the population overlap with PSA 10 is large, which is why some collectors try for it; the same fee applies either way.

Setting 1 accepts any grade at all, which turns the crossover into a regrade with no way back. For a card that already holds a 9, that only makes sense if the PSA slab matters more to you than the number on it.

More grade pairs, including BGS, SGC and TAG, are collected on our crossover grading hub, and our CGC vs PSA grading scale chart lays the two scales side by side.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a CGC 9 usually cross over to a PSA 9?

No grader publishes a rate. By our population comparison, the CGC 9 band lines up with PSA 9 or better on all nine cards we checked, at 95% or more of the band. Real results depend on centering and on which copies people choose to send.

Is CGC 9 the same as PSA 9?

Both are called Mint 9, and CGC’s 60/40 front centering for a 9 matches PSA’s, but CGC applies that number to sports and non-sport cards. For Pokemon, CGC sets no numeric centering below Gem Mint 10, while PSA 9 still needs about 60/40.

Can a CGC 9 become a PSA 10 in a crossover?

It can, and on some modern cards the population math points that way: 46% of the CGC 9 band on Evolving Skies Umbreon VMAX 215 and 66% on Eevee Heroes Umbreon VMAX 095 line up with PSA 10. On the vintage English cards we checked, none of it does.

What minimum grade do I put for a CGC 9 crossover?

PSA requires one. A minimum of 9 crosses the card at 9 or higher; a minimum of 10 sends it back in the CGC slab unless PSA gives it a 10. Either way the full fee is charged.

Why would anyone cross a CGC 9 to a PSA 9?

Because the same grade has sold for more in a PSA holder on several cards. On Goldin a CGC 9 Shadowless Charizard sold for $2,566 and a PSA 9 for $4,880 a month later. On a lower-priced card the fee can eat the whole gap.

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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