IIIRobOmanIII

According to Overstreet grading guide, and the standard for longer than any other company, the best grade you could have with a 1" spine split should be 4.5 VG+, I know it would suck to have an otherwise perfect book get a grade like that for just a tear, but that is why we don't want to have tears, Tears are bad. and some books can be graded wrong even by great companies, a person may get in a hurry with a big stack of books to grade. I will add some pictures of a book that I just had the misfortune to buy as an example. I have only been grading about 35 years but I really don't think you can give a 9.4 grade to a book with a 1" spine split. Just Saying.

Just going by the excellent picture you posted and not seeing the rest of the book I would go by the 2016 Overstreet grading guide : 6.5 would be the best grade I could go based on just that one staple, "Slight to moderate rust migration allowed, even if the staple is rusted, that one doesn't look bad the staple tears also would put it into the same grade. Your question implies that you want to know how rusting works, Often when rusting first occurs it is only in very small dots that sort of crystallize, They fleck off easily but also easily discolor the paper almost like a little piece of chalk, rust first shows on the paper as rust migration and of course can get way worse, The same grade allows for the staple to be replaced with another from a book of the same time but I see no advantage in doing that, the tear and discoloration would not change.

I am really confused or maybe just naive but even as far back as the 37th comic book price guide and certainly in the 2016 edition of the overstreet guide to grading comics a 1" spine split makes the comic a 4.5 VG+ and if I bought a comic thinking it a graded 6.5 and found a 1" spine split I would feel very ripped off. Are the books all wrong now, what do I do to find a grade if I can't trust the few items that have been quantified in the books for so many years.