How many copies CGC graded, at every grade - and what is behind any CGC cert number
- endpoints
- 8
- credits per call
- 1–2
The CGC Cards API returns CGC's own grading data as clean JSON.
This page covers what the CGC Cards API returns, who uses it, a real response and pricing. Every parameter and response field is in CGC Cards API parameters and responses →
Haunter
- cert_number
- 6090960083
- grading_company
- CGC
- collectible
- tcg
- card_name
- Haunter
- game
- Pokémon
2 credits per call≈ $2/1,000 calls1,000 free credits, no card
Get a free API keyRun the call yourself, on the real endpoint
Change a parameter and press Try it. The response on the right is what your code will receive.
CGC Cards API
3 of 8 endpoints, ready to run
A CGC certification number in: card, set, number, year, language, grade as printed, autograph grade, grade date, slab photos and the card's population at and above that grade.
// Press "Try it" and this pane shows exactly what the // live site returned this second — including an empty // result, if that is the truth. No key, no account.
What CGC Cards endpoints does ReefAPI ship?
8 live read endpoints. Read-only data API: no writes, no account actions, no dashboard access on the target site.
cert_lookup
2 crVerify a CGC-graded card by its certification number (the number on the slab label).
- required
- cert_number
- optional
- include_population, max_rotations
search
2 crFind cards in CGC's population report by name, player, set or number ("charizard base set", "…
- required
- query
- optional
- collectible, category, year, language, limit, include_population, max_rotations
card_population
1 crOne card's CGC population.
- required
- population_id
- optional
- collectible, max_rotations
set_population
2 crEvery card CGC has graded from one set, 50 a page, each with its count at every grade (Perfec…
- required
- set_id
- optional
- collectible, query, page, max_rotations
sets
2 crThe sets CGC files under one series (e.g.
- required
- subcategory_id
- optional
- collectible, query, language, sort, page, max_rotations
subcategories
1 crThe series / eras CGC files under one game or sport (Pokémon.
- required
- category
- optional
- collectible, max_rotations
categories
1 crEvery game, sport and non-sports line in CGC's population report with how many cards CGC grad…
- required
- —
- optional
- collectible, query, sort, max_rotations
grading_scale
1 crCGC Cards' published grading scale.
- required
- —
- optional
- max_rotations
Every parameter, every allowed value →
Missing a CGC Cards endpoint, or need a source we don't have yet?Contact us real people · same-day reply.How the CGC Cards API works
CGC Cards is a normal ReefAPI surface — the same four rules that hold for every other engine on the key.
No OAuth app, no request signing, no per-site account. One key covers all 632 engines.
Every route is a POST with a JSON body. Parameters are validated against the published schema before anything is charged.
Credits, not seats. Failed and blocked calls are never charged, and nothing is cached: every call reads the source live.
One envelope everywhere. meta carries latency_ms, record_count and the endpoint that answered.
Is this slab rare? Two calls
From the number on a CGC label to the card's place in CGC's population.
{"cert_number": "6090960001"}Haunter, Japanese ex Starter Set, GEM MINT 10: 4,191 at this grade, 4,796 higher (all Pristine 10).
{"population_id": "2325252"}The full breakdown: 10,912 graded, 82% of them 10s, top grade Pristine 10.
Grade, photos and scarcity of one slab in two calls.
curl -X POST https://api.reefapi.com/cgc/v1/cert_lookup \
-H "x-api-key: $REEF_KEY" \
-H "content-type: application/json" \
-d '{"cert_number":"6090960083"}'{
"ok": true,
"data": { … },
"meta": {
"api": "cgc",
"endpoint": "cert_lookup",
"mode": "live",
"latency_ms": …,
"record_count": …
},
"error": null
}CGC has three different 10s - and a 1999 Base Set Charizard has 298 of them out of 15,118
CGC's population report splits the top grade three ways. Measured on 2026-11-08 for Pokémon Base Set Unlimited Charizard 4/102: 15,118 graded, 1 Perfect 10, 11 Pristine 10, 286 Gem Mint 10 - a 2% share of 10s. For a 2025 Japanese Haunter from the Mega Gengar ex starter set the same share is 82%, with 4,796 Pristine 10s. The API returns each column separately, never one merged '10'.
| CGC grade | key in by_grade | what it means |
|---|---|---|
| Perfect 10 | perfect_10 | Retired top grade: Pristine with all four sub-grades at 10; old slabs keep it |
| Pristine 10 | pristine_10 | Virtually flawless, 50/50 centering; gets CGC's Pristine label |
| Gem Mint 10 | gem_mint_10 | A 10 that misses one Pristine criterion (centering up to 55/45) |
| Mint+ 9.5 … Poor 1 | 9.5 … 1 | Numeric grades, half points included |
| Authentic / Authentic Altered | authentic / authentic_altered | Genuine but not numerically graded / altered (e.g. trimmed) |
total counts Authentic and Authentic Altered too, exactly as CGC prints it; numeric_graded and gem_rate_percent leave them out, so the share of 10s is over cards that received a number. In a cert lookup, 'higher grades' is CGC's own figure: the sum of every column above the slab's grade, Perfect 10 first.
What CGC publishes, and what it does not
CGC Cards only - trading card games, sports and non-sports cards graded by CGC. Measured 2026-11-08: 39 of 39 live cases across eight actions, 13 of 13 values matched CGC's own pages, 31 offline checks on real responses. Some of these lines go against us.
23 grade columns for every card.
Card, set, number, year, grade and date, with photos when CGC has them (1 of the 12 certs we found live had none).
The top 50 matches per card type. Use set_population for a complete list.
Sub-grades (CGC stopped them in 2023; 0 of 70 sampled certs had any), the holder label type, and population history over time.
What people build with CGC Cards
The jobs this data is most often used for.
Slab verification at checkout or in a marketplace listing: cert number in, card, grade and CGC's photos out
Population-aware pricing: how many copies exist above the grade being sold
Grading ROI: the share of 10s CGC gave a card before you submit yours
Set trackers and registries: every card of a set with its graded counts
endpoints
credits per call
What CGC Cards data costs
The cheapest call here is 1 credit, so $15/mo (Pro) buys 10,000 of them — $1.50 per 1,000 credits. Credits roll over and never expire, and failed or blocked calls are not charged.
- 1,000 free credits on signup, no card
- One key, all 632 APIs, one credit pool
- Failed and blocked calls are never charged
- Credits roll over and never expire
Call it in two lines
Sign up, get 1,000 credits and one key that works on every engine. Then this is the whole protocol.
curl -X POST https://api.reefapi.com/cgc/v1/cert_lookup \
-H "x-api-key: $REEF_KEY" \
-H "content-type: application/json" \
-d '{"cert_number":"6090960083"}'import os
import requests
REEF_KEY = os.environ["REEF_KEY"]
r = requests.post(
"https://api.reefapi.com/cgc/v1/cert_lookup",
headers={"x-api-key": REEF_KEY},
json={
"cert_number": "6090960083"
},
timeout=90,
)
print(r.json()["data"])Have a question? We got answers.
The questions people actually ask before wiring up CGC Cards.
Can I verify a CGC slab by its certification number?▾
Yes. cert_lookup takes the 10-digit number on the label (or a CGC cert URL) and returns the card, set, number, year, language, variants, the grade as printed with CGC's grade name, autograph grade, grade date and the front and back photos CGC took of the slab. An unknown number returns NOT_FOUND and costs nothing; CGC notes that a cert only appears once the order has shipped.
How many copies of a card has CGC graded at each grade?▾
card_population returns all 23 columns of CGC's report for one card - Perfect 10, Pristine 10, Gem Mint 10, Mint+ 9.5, 9 down to 1, Authentic and Authentic Altered - plus the total, the number of 10s, the share of 10s and the highest grade reached. set_population returns the same for every card in a set, 50 cards a page. Every value matched CGC's own population page in our 2026-11-08 check (7 cards, 24 cells each).
Does it cover sports cards and non-Pokémon games?▾
Yes. CGC's report has 461 trading card game categories (Pokémon, One Piece, Magic, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Lorcana, Weiss Schwarz, Dragon Ball and hundreds more), 14 sports (baseball, basketball, football, soccer, hockey …, filed by decade) and 111 non-sports lines (Pokémon Topps and Carddass, Marvel, Star Wars, phone cards …). On 2026-11-08 that was about 14.4 million TCG cards, 4.0 million sports cards and 1.8 million non-sports cards.
What is the difference between Pristine 10 and Gem Mint 10?▾
Both are 10s on CGC's scale. Pristine 10 is virtually flawless with 50/50 centering and gets CGC's Pristine label; Gem Mint 10 is a 10 that misses one Pristine criterion (centering up to 55/45 front, 75/25 back). The API keeps them apart in every population and names the grade the way CGC prints it. grading_scale returns CGC's full published definitions.
Does it return sub-grades?▾
When the cert page prints them, cert_lookup returns centering, corners, edges and surface. CGC stopped offering sub-grades in 2023, and none of the 70 recent certs we sampled carried them, so for most slabs subgrades is null.
How do I find a card if I do not know its CGC id?▾
search with the card name, player, set or number ("charizard base set", "tom brady 2000"), optionally narrowed by game or sport, year and language. CGC answers with its top 50 matches per card type; every row carries the population_id that card_population takes, and include_population attaches the counts to the first 10 rows.
What is the CGC Cards API?▾
CGC Cards API is a ReefAPI endpoint group for cgc's own graded-card population report and cert verification as json: how many copies cgc graded at every grade, for pokémon, magic, one piece, sports and 580+ categories. It returns live JSON through POST requests under /cgc/v1.
Is the CGC Cards API free to try?▾
Yes. ReefAPI starts with 1,000 free credits, no card required. CGC Cards calls use the same shared credit balance as every other ReefAPI engine.
Do I need a CGC Cards login or account?▾
No login to CGC Cards is needed for the API response. You call ReefAPI with your x-api-key header, and the playground can run live examples before you create a production key.
How fresh is the CGC Cards data?▾
The page example is captured from a live cert_lookup call, and production requests fetch live data through ReefAPI rather than a static sample.
How many credits does the CGC Cards API use?▾
CGC Cards actions currently cost 1-2 credits per successful call. Failed or blocked calls are free. All APIs draw from one credit pool.
Can I call CGC Cards from an AI assistant or MCP client?▾
Yes. Connect ReefAPI once through MCP and your assistant can call cgc actions with the same key, credit pool and JSON envelope used by normal REST requests.
Is the CGC Cards API a CGC Cards scraper?▾
It is the managed alternative to a DIY CGC Cards scraper. Instead of building and maintaining your own scraper — proxies, headless browsers, captcha and constant breakage — you call one ReefAPI endpoint and get the same cgc's own graded-card population report and cert verification as json: how many copies cgc graded at every grade, for pokémon, magic, one piece, sports and 580+ categories back as clean JSON.
Why does my CGC Cards scraper keep getting blocked?▾
Most CGC Cards scrapers break on anti-bot defenses, rate limits and IP bans that need rotating residential proxies and browser fingerprinting to clear. ReefAPI handles all of that for you — no proxies, no captchas, no maintenance — and returns live JSON. Blocked calls are free.
350 E-commerce & Marketplaces APIs on the same key
One key, one credit pool, one response envelope. If you are pulling CGC Cards, you are one call away from the rest of the category — no second contract, no second integration.
Need something this API does not do?
Name the endpoint, the field, or a source we do not carry yet. We ship new APIs every week and you would be first to get the key. Real people read every message and reply the same day.
Try it on your own data before you pay anything
The call above is the real endpoint, not a recording. A free key gives you 1,000 credits, the other 631 APIs, and the same envelope everywhere.
Endpoints, parameters and credit costs on this page are read from the live catalog and cannot drift from what the API accepts. Field notes were captured on 2026-11-08.