Assessing the condition of cigarette cards
The single most important thing affecting the value of any given card is its condition. The following terms are commonly used to describe the condition of a single cigarette card:
- Mint
- As good as new; entirely unblemished.
- Excellent
- As good as could be expected: cards clean with a minimum of damage.
- Very good
- Slight damage only. Corners not creased.
- Good
- Minor damage, possibly including corner damage. No creases or stains.
- Fair
- Card may be dirty or damaged by a fold, crack or dirty mark.
- Poor
- Card with a serious defect or a number of faults.
- Corner mount marks (CMM)
- Card corners are damaged as a result of mounting in an album or frame.
When describing the condition of a set of cards, it is common to use the classification(s) which apply to the majority of the set.
Slightly dirty cards can be cleaned by rubbing them with a soft pencil eraser. However, it is possible to rub the ink off old cards, so be careful.