| Tears/Folds | Corners | Spine Stress | Writing/stamps | Waterstains | Cover | Pages | Staples |
Mint | None | Sharp/Crisp | None | None | None | Colours glossy/reflective | White/no damage | No wear or tears |
Near Mint | None | Sharp | No rolling, minor stress, no colour break | Very small arrival dates/prices | None | High Gloss | White, no damage | No wear |
Very Fine | Very light on edges or corners | Minor wear or slight creases | No rolling, minor stress with minor colour break | Very small neat writing on cover or pages | None | high-med gloss | Off white or yellow or tan | minor wear but no tears |
Fine | one tear 1/4“ max. minor corner folds | moderate creases | moderate stress with minor colour break | small rubber stamp on front cover only, or very small neat writing | None, but minor humidity on back cover | medium gloss, minor scuffing | yellow or tan. no brittleness | minor wear around staples, minor tears |
Very Good | several minor tears, or one major, moderate folds | bends, moderate creases, up to 1/2” missing | slight roll, moderate wear | minor neat stamps or writing | hardly noticable small droplet | fading gloss, missing piece 1“ square, moderate scuffing | brown, minor tears | moderate wear, no tears, pages all attached, minor rust, no rust stains |
Good | lots of small tears and folds | major creases, small pieces missing | up to 1/4” tears, major stress | allowed in small quantities | extensive, but still readable | no gloss, up to 2“ square missing, scuffing | brown, moderate tears, slightly brittle | cover/centre loose, rust, small rust stains |
Fair | Major tears, small chunks missing | some corners missing | 2/3 spine split, major stress | moderate writing/ stamps | extensive, some colour fading | no gloss | brittle pages, coupons clipped or missing | rust, rust stains |
Poor | major tears & creases | Major corner portions missing | major damage | book and/or cover used as colouring book | extensive water damage | no cover | brittle pages, browning, pages missing | major rust & stains, loose pages |