Pokémon PSA gem rate
A card’s gem rate is the share of graded copies that come back PSA 10. A rate of 10% means nine in ten submissions miss the top grade — the single biggest factor in whether grading a card pays. Measured across 16,941 Pokémon cards with PSA population data. See also the PSA population report and grading ROI.
This page covers PSA-graded Pokémon cards only — not CGC, Beckett or SGC, and not other games. Gem rate tracks print era closely: across the population we track, cards from before 2011 gem far less often than recent ones — older copies have had decades of handling, and centring or print flaws from the factory rule out a 10 regardless of care. The era breakdown on the population report shows the gap.
Across the whole population we track, 35.8% of graded copies are PSA 10s, but the median card gems only 25.9% of the time — bulk-submitted modern cards pull the overall figure up. Era is a large driver: cards from the vintage years gem at 7.8%, cards released since 2020 at 45.3%, about 6 times as often. Within an era it comes down to the card: holofoil surfaces scratch and show print lines far more readily than a non-holo, and off-centre cuts cost a 10 on any card, full-art ones included.
Read every rate with its sample. The lists below only quote a rate on cards with at least 100 graded copies, and even then it is a lifetime average of the cleanest copies collectors chose to submit — how hard a 10 has been to earn, not the odds your own copy will earn one.
Getting harder to gem
A lifetime gem rate averages every submission ever made, so it moves slowly and hides what is happening now. These cards gemmed at a lower rate in recent submissions than they have historically — scarcity being confirmed as more copies are graded, rather than assumed. Based on 9 weeks of weekly population snapshots, so treat it as directional; it sharpens as the history grows.
Hardest cards to gem
The lowest PSA 10 rates among cards with at least 100 graded copies — centring, print lines and edge wear keep these off the top grade.
Easiest cards to gem
The highest PSA 10 rates on the same floor of at least 100 graded copies — modern printing and thicker stock make the top grade far more reachable.