Record both the grading submission number and the Pokémon slab certification number when they are available. The submission number identifies the grading batch or order, while the certification number identifies the individual encapsulated card. These numbers support different tasks and should not replace each other. Grading companies use different names and formats, so store each number with the company that issued it.
Table of Contents
- What Each Number Identifies
- Why Collectors Need Both
- How to Store the Numbers
- What the Numbers Cannot Prove
- Regrading, Cracking, and Reholdering
What Each Number Identifies
A submission number usually connects several cards sent to a grading company under one order. It helps organize paperwork, grading fees, shipment dates, and cards processed together. A certification number, often shortened to "cert number," belongs to one graded card and appears on its slab label.
Collectors commonly use it to distinguish that slab from another copy of the same card. For example, ten Pokémon cards in one submission may share a submission number but receive ten separate cert numbers. The submission tracks the group; each cert tracks one slab.
Why Collectors Need Both
The cert number is the more useful identifier for inventory, pricing records, insurance schedules, and sale listings. A grade alone cannot distinguish two otherwise identical copies of the same Pokémon card. The submission number provides operational context.
It can connect a card to an invoice, return shipment, grading cost, submitter, or batch-level notes. Recording both also makes reconciliation easier. If a return package contains a mislabeled inventory entry, the submission number narrows the search while the cert number identifies the exact slab.
How to Store the Numbers
Keep the fields separate in a spreadsheet, collection app, or database. Do not combine them into one general "grading number" field. Useful fields include: Store each value exactly as shown, including letters, hyphens, and leading zeros.
Treat it as text rather than a number so spreadsheet software does not change the format. A cert number should be unique only within its grading company's records. Pairing the company name with the cert prevents collisions between unrelated graders that happen to use similar number formats.
- Grading company
- Submission or order number
- Certification number
- Card name, set, and card number
- Assigned grade and grading tier, if relevant
What the Numbers Cannot Prove
A matching cert number is useful evidence, but it does not establish authenticity by itself. A copied label, altered holder, data-entry error, or outdated lookup record can still create problems. Compare the entire slab with the grading company's available record, when one exists. Check the card description, set, card number, variant, grade, label details, and any displayed images rather than relying on the cert alone.
A submission number is even less suitable as proof for an individual card because several cards may share it. It may also expose order information that a seller or submitter prefers to keep private, depending on the grader's account system. If a lookup result conflicts with the slab, pause the purchase or listing. Record the discrepancy and seek clarification from the grading company or current owner before changing your inventory record.
Regrading, Cracking, and Reholdering
A slab's cert number describes the holdered card in its current grading record, not the physical card for all time. A card that is cracked out and graded again may receive a different certification number.
Reholdering, label corrections, grade reviews, and crossover services may also affect identifiers, but practices vary by company and service. Keep old values instead of overwriting them when the card's grading history matters. Create a new record for the new slab and link it to the prior entry with a status such as "regraded," "crossed over," or "removed from holder." Never assume two cert numbers represent the same physical card without supporting records.
