MINT VINYL
This should be very simple to define (said with tongue in cheek). A mint record should look perfect, as described earlier. Any defect from the factory pressing, such as bubbles or pits in the vinyl are not acceptable! Even if they do not cause any problem when played. It should, as we said, be a perfect pressing. Records were ALL packaged by hand and the simple placing of the record into a paper sleeve can caused minor scuffs. Probably very insignificant, but they are flaws never the less. For this reason, it is impossible to call a sealed record mint. Thus any sealed record that is sold, should be sold only with the guarantee that it is assumed to be unplayed. Unplayed records will always play better the 1st time unless. of course there was a factory flaw. A sealed record cannot be inspected for flaws in the vinyl's grooves, so it not wise to call a sealed record MINT.
Sealed records have sold for more than the high end of price guides. If you are selling sealed records, be advised that many collectors shy away from them. A sight unseen record (through mail order) is hard to sell. A sealed record is even harder to sell. If you sell a sealed record and the customer finds flaws (such as paper scuffs or defected vinyl) you won't be able to claim that the damage was caused by them, or that they swapped a good pressing with a bad pressing. If you sell sealed records, you will have problems with some people, so be alert to those claims of overgrading sealed items!
NEAR MINT or NM
Sometimes dealers use M- (Mint Minus)grade. You may need to ask the dealer if he/she uses the M- grade the same way as NM. They should mean the same thing. However many people have used several confusing grades all based around the Mint grade. We define NM and M- as being almost mint. This grade should be, for the most part, the most widely used grade for records that appear virtually flawless. Virtually flawless records are not perfect. As we mentioned above, no record truly will be perfect, cover or disc. A very minor scuff and very little else can appear on the vinyl. This will most likely have occurred during packaging, or removing the record from the inner sleeve but obviously it had been handled with extreme care. It should play without any noise over the flaw. The flaw should be very hard to see. If a scuff covers more than a few tracks yet can be seen, it will not be NM, however it may come very close. You should always use strong judgment when evaluating the vinyl's condition. Any blemish no matter how small, prevents records from being MINT (Or our PERFECT grade).
NEAR MINT COVERS
The cover should look as close to perfect with only minor signs of wear and/or age. Minor impressions to the cover (due to the outer edge of the vinyl resting inside) may be acceptable, however the artwork should be as close to perfect as can be.
EXCELLENT or EX or VG++
This is truly NOT a Goldmine defined grade, however it is becoming more and more mainstream among collectors and sellers. It is also a very conservative grade for those who don't want to grade NM, for fear they may overgrade the record and cover (buyers are very picky remember!). In which case it is a very acceptable grade yet should not command the highest price based on NM value. To put it simply, when collectable records are concerned there are only 2 collecting grades. NM being "Collectors Condition" and everything less than NM is not. We are not saying EX records won't have any value, they just should not be sold for the highest end of book value. EX records will play just like NM or MINT, meaning no audible noise will be heard during the play. They should sound as good or better than they look. Many very rare (collectable) items can command very close to NM value, simply because NM copies may not even exist.
EX (VG++) VINYL
An excellent (or VG++) condition for vinyl will allow minor scuffs which are visible but only slightly. There may be more than a few, so be careful not to call a record that has wear to more than 15% of the surface -EX. The wear should be minimal and of course should play mint! Any scratches that can be felt with your fingernail can NOT be called scuffs. Scuffs lay on top of the grooves. If there any break in the grooves that can be felt, they ARE scratches. And most often, they will be heard when played (soft clicks or even loud pops). Once again, "No scratches can make this grade"! Only a few minor paper scuffs and that's about it. The play should be close to perfect as well!
EX(VG++) COVER
Artwork should still be as close to perfect as can be. Some impression to the cover (minor outer ring wear) but no ink wear! Some slight creases to the corners, but not wrinkled and obtrusive to the eye. The corners can show white (where the artwork pasted slick was) meaning, slight wear. No seam splits or writing on the cover or taped repairs can make this grade. If you don't think a cover is NM than call it EX or less. There will be obvious reactions to the EX grade but if you use the EX grade and price a bit lower, your risk of overgrading will be reduced dramatically. You will also make more people happy, rather than trying to call it NM.
