Thanks for the reply. Surprisingly, I think I got some good pics! I can argue that I’m seeing some red-rust like areas at the base of some of the staples.
Mind you, these pics are from two different slabs that I recently purchased from two different sellers.
One of the slabs was literally graded 4 weeks ago.
I just find it hard to believe that if it were rust, this would slip by someone grading these. Not to mention, the odds that BOTH have it and got 9.8s?
And if it wasn’t like this before grading, I find it hard to believe that both would develop this in such a short period of time, especially the one graded a month ago and the other 8-10 months ago.
That’s why I’m wondering if this is something that’s acceptable during the grading process to allow a 9.8 or if I’m misdiagnosing altogether.