What is CCIC grading?
In Europe, CCIC grading is still almost unknown, but in China the label is hugely popular. Below is what CCIC is, and when a CCIC-graded card is the right buy and when it is not.
What is CCIC?
CCIC stands for China Certification & Inspection Group. It is not a traditional grading company but a state-owned enterprise under the council that manages China's state-owned firms (SASAC). That government body's original specialism is the inspection and certification of import and export goods. Trading cards are a young branch of it.
That is also the immediate difference from the standard grading services you know from the West. PSA, BGS and CGC are private companies; CCIC is a state institution. Inside China that is exactly why the label gained ground so quickly in a market whose main fear is counterfeits and forgeries.
State-owned
Managed under SASAC, the council for China's state-owned enterprises.
Inspection and certification
Its long-standing core business: inspecting, testing and certifying import and export goods.
中国检验认证集团Cards as a young branch
The grading arm is recent, but it leans on the parent's infrastructure and authority.
The scale, and the two labels
Like PSA, CCIC grading uses a ten-point scale with half grades. In our service we handle CCIC 10 only. What sits next to that 10 differs by label: the regular label reads Gem Mint, the gold label reads Perfect. CCIC's strictness is often compared to CGC's.
Half grades exist across the whole scale. Our catalogue lists tens only.
Every CCIC label also carries a tier: gold or silver. So a card gets both a grade and a label. As with Beckett's grading services, a gold label is the higher, scarcer one. Below ten the same split holds: there is a Gold 9 alongside a Silver 9, and a Gold 8 alongside a Silver 8.
Gold label
金标 · Gold
The top tier. On a gold label the 10 reads Perfect rather than Gem Mint. Inside China a gold CCIC 10 counts as the best of that grade, and the market pays accordingly: on Chinese platforms they outperform a comparable PSA 10.
Silver label
银标 · Silver
The regular run, Gem Mint 10 included. Same slab, same certificate, same number, one tier down and noticeably cheaper to buy.
We list nothing below a 10: a 9 is a different card commercially, and a buyer who wants one asks for it by name. If you want a specific lower grade, name the card in the notes on your request.
The label up close, next to a PSA
If you are used to PSA, four things stand out. Below are two real labels side by side, a gold CCIC 10 and a PSA 10, with the same four numbers on each. Watch where they sit: the two certifiers record the same details, but not in the same place.
- Certificate number
On CCIC it sits at the top, prefixed with No. and fifteen digits long; on PSA it sits bottom right and is far shorter, nine digits here. This is the number you type into the verification, so copy it exactly, leading zeros included.
- Grade and tier
The grade sits on the right, on both with its wording next to it: CCIC puts it in a panel of its own, Gem Mint on the regular label and Perfect on the gold one, where PSA shortens it to GEM MT. On a CCIC label the colour also tells you the tier, gold or silver, and you always read the two together. On a PSA label there is only the grade.
- Card details
Both record the same details, CCIC in Chinese and PSA in English: the year, the set and the language code of the print run at the top, CHN or CHS against EN, then the card name, the set, and the card number with its rarity. PSA puts that number on the right; CCIC puts it bottom left. Check those lines against the card you are buying: set, number and rarity should match one to one.
- Certifier's mark and security feature
CCIC prints its own roundel on the left and lays a fine guilloche pattern over the grade panel; PSA uses a silver hologram with a barcode beside it along the bottom instead. Note: there is no QR code on the front of a CCIC label. That sits on the back of the slab. See the verification steps below.
Collectors who own both consistently describe the CCIC case as clearer and sturdier than PSA's. There is one caveat: the material is brittle. See the tip further down if you plan to open one.
How to verify a CCIC slab
Five steps, in this order. The first three cost you a minute; the last two matter most.
- Look up the certificate number
CCIC runs its own mini program inside WeChat. Enter the full number there and put what comes back next to the label: set, card number, grade and tier should all line up.
- Scan the QR code
Every genuine slab carries one on the back. If it will not scan because of its size, step 1 is the way. A QR that will not scan is not an alarm in itself; a missing QR is.
- Assess the case
CCIC cases are clear and solid and should not feel thin or flimsy. A floppy or cloudy case is a reason to stop.
- Match the card to the grade
Look at corners, edges, centring and surface yourself. A 10 that does not look like a 10 is the clearest red flag there is, whatever label sits around it.
- Buy from someone you can hold to it
A certificate is only as good as the chain it reaches you through. Ask for photos of the front and the back, number included, before you agree.
We buy graded cards in as sealed slabs and never submit anything for grading ourselves. The grade on your quote line is the grade that arrives, in its original slab, and you check it yourself on collection, before you pay.
Should you buy CCIC?
That depends entirely on what you plan to do with the card. The table puts the two labels side by side; the short version is underneath.
| Comparison | CCIC | PSA |
|---|---|---|
| Background | Chinese state-owned enterprise, inspection and certification by origin | US private company, built for the collector market |
| Recognition in China | Widely accepted and growing fast | Known, but not the first choice |
| Recognition in Europe and the US | Barely; few buyers know the label | The de facto standard |
| Cost of grading | Roughly $2–6 per card in bulk | From roughly $20 per card |
| Slab price in the West | Close to what the same card fetches raw | A clear label premium |
| Slab price in China | A gold 10 above a PSA 10 | Solid, but not the top |
| Case | Clear and solid, but brittle to open | Familiar; less clear according to collectors |
| Verification | WeChat mini program and QR; no English lookup | Online certificate lookup, usable worldwide |
| Strictness | Close to CGC | The benchmark the rest are measured against |
- Yes, if you collect or resell Chinese cards
Within that audience the label is known and wanted, and the gold 10 carries a premium of its own.
- Yes, if you are buying the card itself
The case is excellent and you are not paying for a brand name. For a display or your own collection that is pure gain.
- No, if you are buying to flip in the West
Here the label adds no premium. In Europe and the US a CCIC slab fetches roughly what the same card does raw.
- Maybe, if you are buying to crack and regrade
Some collectors have taken a CCIC 10 straight into a PSA 10. It is never a guarantee: you pay for grading again, you carry the risk, and the card is vulnerable along the way.
Collectors advise cutting the entire perimeter with cable cutters first, corners included, and only then prising the halves apart gently. Anyone who tries to pop one open like a PSA case ends up with shards, and they fly towards the card.
What you can request from us
Every single card in the catalogue can be requested as Raw, CCIC 10 Gold, CCIC 10 Silver or PSA 10. You pick the state on the card's product page; we confirm availability and price in your quote.