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 Replies: 12 / Views: 3,838 |
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New Member
United States
5 Posts |
I often feel that grading services should adopt industry-wide standards to make grading more consistent. What are your thoughts about this? Some of the standards I would like to see implemented are: 1. lighting standards, 2. periodic eye exams and minimum corrected vision standards for graders and 3. magnification standards used to grade coins. (There is a degree of magnification at which no coin will be seen as a 70 and at which venial faults can disproportionately affect grade. The diamond trade has limited its magnification to 10X for grading purposes.) I look forward to reading the thoughts of others. Can anyone give me a short course on how to use Poll Posting? Sincere thanks to all who reply! Marc ANA LM-2909 *** Moved by Staff to a more appropriate forum. *** |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
As I understand it, a TPG company has the coins sent it it to be examined (gloved?) hand held, using a standard 10x loupe. I do not know if there are any standard lighting conditions specified. I do not know if the industry has standard graded coins or photographs for reference purposes. PCGS Photograde is certainly is very useful photo based grading standard resource, for us all to use. They are to be congratulated for providing this grading tool freely for us all to refer to. Perhaps this should be the standard for all U.S. coins, in the light of nobody else taking this action. |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
5953 Posts |
Gloved hands. No I have had more than one coin come back with a finger print on it..
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Pillar of the Community
United States
604 Posts |
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Gloved hands. No I have had more than one coin come back with a finger print on it.. I wonder if that would still be possible if you paid the extra money and did their conservation. I would like to think the person doing the grading would at least wash their hands prior to handling a coin. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
711 Posts |
Not really something they should be doing publicly, but if I were R&D for PCGS / NGC / ANACS instead of the plastics business I am, we would be playing with 3d scanners and building a database of all coins that come across our desk for potential future uses.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1566 Posts |
What they need to do is adopt across the board technical grading standards. It's a well established industry fact that NGC is far more generous than PCGS. Collectors lately have been complaining that ANACS has been getting real tough about grades. (Which in my opinion is what they should all be doing.)
In the Internet age technical grading standards have been thrown out the window in favor of a "Photograde" mentality that serves no one but TPGs and their investors.
It's time to get back to published technical grading standards that are the same for everyone.
Just my honest opinion.
Edited by Celticsoul
04/06/2015 10:48 am
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
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Gloved hands. No I have had more than one coin come back with a finger print on it..
I won't touch someone else's $50k coin with my manual dexterity insulated by cloth. You realize you're trying to impose objective standards on a subjective process, right? The conditions under which graders work are not the cause of any perceived problems. Human frailty, and a ridiculous workload, are the problem. The best equipment and highest standards on Earth won't help if you only have six seconds to look at the coin. |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
7096 Posts |
As far as I am aware the graders do not use gloves and neither do I for obvious reasons. Clean dry fingers that grasp the coin by its edges is a far better option than using gloves that always have the ability to drop the coin. I have NO problems with the consistency of grading from both NGC and PCGS and it is rare that they make a mistake. However the imaging department is pretty shoddy at PCGS, Here is a typical example. http://www.pcgs.com/Cert/31865823.htmlThe labelling department often gets it wrong as well. These guys do this 8 hrs a day 5 days a week and I would imagine that their eyes are trained to the task. 6 seconds is an awful long time for these guys to tell if a coin is a dog or a fox and they get it right 99.99% of the time. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5208 Posts |
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6 seconds is an awful long time for these guys to tell if a coin is a dog or a fox and they get it right 99.99% of the time. If you were going to make a purchase and the difference between an MS64 and an MS65 was $2000 or even $200 for us poor folks would you take only 6 seconds to look at the coin (if your were fortunate enough to look at it in hand vs on the internet)? I was ready to buy a Bridgeport commemorative half at the CSNS show today and found an MS65 PCGS one for the going rate of sold listings on ebay. Before I handed over my $125 (YES a lowly common hard working mans that is a lot of money $125) I sent over a minute looking at the luster under the dealers light, getting out my loupe, looking at both sides of the coin, reevaluating the luster, and finally politely declining because the coin was hammered with bag marks that were "in your face" when you looked at it and was maybe an MS62 at best. I have seen 65's that had a stray mark or 2 but they were usually not as bold and in your face on the main devices or open fields. Buy the coin, not the holder or TPG. |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
7096 Posts |
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would you take only 6 seconds to look at the coin (if your were fortunate enough to look at it in hand vs on the internet)?
Yes 2 to 3 seconds each side and look at the edges at the same time is ample time to put a grade on a coin. Ensuring the coin is genuine is the time consumer  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Quote:As I understand it, a TPG company has the coins sent it it to be examined (gloved?) hand held, using a standard 10x loupe. No gloves, and typically no loupe. Lighting is typically a darkened environment with a single incandecent 75 watt source. |
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Valued Member
United States
383 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4592 Posts |
OK, because I'm feeling snarky...
Is it a violation of the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) if the second tier grading companies don't allow staff to bring their seeing eye dogs into the grading room?
-----Burton 50+ year / Life / Emeritus ANA member (joined 12/1/1973) Life member: Numismatics International, CONECA Member: TNA, FtWCC, NETCC, EveryCountry (online) coin club Owned by three cats and a wife of 40+ years (joined 1983) Author: 3rd Edition of the Sample Slabs book, https://www.sampleslabs.info/ |
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Replies: 12 / Views: 3,838 |
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Posted 04/06/2015 03:15 am
