Six subgrades. One explainable result.
Six individual condition assessments and a published grading policy, supported by inspection images and human verification.
Grading methods are provisional until reference-card validation is complete.
Six factors and weights
| Subgrade | Weight | Inspected features |
|---|---|---|
| Centering | 20% | Front and back border alignment |
| Corners | 20% | Sharpness, fraying, whitening, damage |
| Edges | 15% | Chipping, cuts, whitening and wear |
| Surface | 20% | Scratches, stains, scuffs and finish damage |
| Print Quality | 15% | Factory print lines, spots, alignment and ink issues |
| Structural Integrity | 10% | Creases, dents, bending and delamination |
How the overall grade works
Each reviewed score is from 1.0 to 10.0, in half-point steps. DGS calculates a weighted average and always rounds DOWN to the next half-point, except for exactly five 10.0 scores and one 9.5.
To stop serious defects from being hidden, the overall grade cannot exceed the lowest subgrade by more than 1.0 point.
The server recalculates every score; an operator cannot supply a custom overall result.
Two types of 10
DGS Perfect 10: all six subgrades equal 10.0.
DGS Gem Mint 10: five subgrades equal 10.0 and the sixth equals 9.5.
All other cards: half-point scores are rounded down, with the low-score cap.
Authentication is a separate pass/fail determination, never a seventh condition subgrade.
DGS does not silently recalculate a grade after a certificate has been issued.