Top four companies graded 1.78 million cards
If you needed any more proof that the hobby is booming right now, reports have confirmed that in May 2024 more cards were authenticated and graded by the four major firms than ever before.
According to GemRate, over 1.78 million trading cards were added to the population reports at PSA, SGC, Beckett, and CGC from May 1-31. That number shattered the previous record for cards graded in a month by approximately 50,000 cards. The numbers include sports, non-sports, and gaming cards that were sent in for authentication by collectors around the globe.
Breaking the numbers down further, PSA graded 1,369,953 cards, up 13% from April 2024 and up 35% year-over-year. Approximately 867,000 were sports-related cards.
CGC graded 184,000 cards, up 88% from a year ago.
SGC–now under the same company umbrella as PSA) graded 174,000 cards. That amount is up an astounding 97% from May 2023. About 157,000 of those were sports cards.
The only company that saw grading numbers decline was Beckett, which graded 59,000 cards in May. That is down 6% compared to April and down 10% year-over-year.
Most of the cards graded from all four companies were produced within the last 15 years. PSA’s most graded athlete list was topped by San Antonio Spurs rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama, with about 49,400 cards graded. The rest of the top five athletes graded by PSA included C.J. Stroud (28,200), Michael Jordan (20,700), Shohei Ohtani (16,000), and Anthony Richardson (13,200).
