You may notice that that there are marks on this Ruth. Lots of marks, in fact. Someone wrote an entire message on it.
According to PSA's website:
Quote:
Qualifiers
MK
Marks
Any and all cards with writing, ink marks, pencil marks, etc. or evidence of the impression left from the act of writing will be designated "MK."
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PSA charges $599 to grade cards like this. As you can see, this card got a PSA 2 with no qualifier. PSA claims to have multiple experts review each card, with a "Quality Assurance" review before it goes out the door.
This means at least two PSA graders either (1) were not aware that writing requires a qualifier under PSA grading standards; or (2) barely looked at this card before assigning it a grade.
With the volume PSA is pushing, I'd expect some mistakes in identifying and labeling. But when your primary job is to grade the condition of a card, it’s hard to fathom how you could miss this much handwriting. I’ve had cards graded marked or altered when there was a tiny, stray unidentifiable mark, or a very light pencil erasure. I've had cards graded marked or altered when I couldn't even find the supposed mark or alteration.
Someone wrote an entire message on this Ruth, and the experts at PSA didn't see it.