1514 - PSA MK?

Dr. Beckett responds to Mike Lach’s question about why grading companies don’t apply an MK (mark) qualifier to post-production, in-person on-card autographs. He explains PSA’s early-1990s introduction of qualifiers (OC, MC, ST, MK, PD, OF) to note manufacturing related issues, and how MK indicates extraneous markings that lower the card’s value though the technical grade reflects centering, edges, corners, and surface(!). Dr. Beckett notes that autograph collecting and card grading were once separate, and that grading companies typically won’t slab cards with attempted or inauthentic autographs, often rejecting them rather than labeling them MK. He argues there should be a clearer solution—encapsulating cards as authentic while noting questionable or inauthentic signatures—to keep misleading items from remaining raw in the market.

 

01:01 Origins of PSA Qualifiers

02:51 How MK Affects Grade

04:05 Factory Flaws vs Marks

05:17 Autographs and Slabbing History

06:20 Inauthentic Autographs Problem

08:13 Why Slab Questionables

09:40 Personal Stories on Writing