Not all photos are created equally!  The value of a photo can vary dramatically depending on the photograph’s ‘Type’ classification. Using PSA’s Photo Type Classification System^©, each photo will be certified for life:

• Type I – A 1st generation photograph, developed from the original negative, during the period (within approximately two years of when the picture was taken).

• Type II – A photograph, developed from the original negative, during the period (more than approximately two years after the picture was taken).

• Type III – A 2nd generation photograph, developed from a duplicate negative or wire transmission, during the period (within approximately two years of when the picture was taken).

• Type IV – A 2nd generation photograph (or 3rd or later generation), developed from a duplicate negative or wire transmission, during a later period (more than approximately two years after the picture was taken).

Type 1 photographs are the most desirable and valuable of the four photograph types because of their vintage and originality.

Many Type 4's were issued after 1970, either for latter-era publication of earlier original images or for the general public consumption.

Duplicate negatives are produced by taking a photograph of an existing original photograph thereby creating a second negative that is of inferior quality to the original

All photograph types are collectible; a Type 3 photograph of a Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle may be worth considerably more than a Type 1 photograph of a common player from the 1920's.