Every dealer uses his or her own method of grading centering and hinging. To clear up any confusion, here are my definitions for
centering and hinging. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.

Imperforate issues are graded somewhat similarly but are typically graded by the size of the margins and not so much by their "centering".


Centering

Superb - Perfect centering with four even margins

XF-S - Perfect centering but top and bottom and side margins are not equal

XF - Almost perfectly centered

VF - Well centered with perfs well clear of the design. On some issues this may vary slightly as the stamps were printed closely together (i.e. Jamestown Issue)

F-VF - Perfs close but clear on one side and well-centered in the other direction

Fine - Perfs close on two sides

Hinging Degrees of Thins (How I rate them) Degrees of Creases (How I rate them)