Rick M. chat, post questions to new Q&A forum!

DHeath

Thanks to Carol, who carried our message and starting the ball rolling, Rick M. has agreed to spend a little time with us in chat one evening soon. One of the things Carol asked for was perhaps a list of questions that could be asnwered in advance, thereby setting up the discussion time for followup questions. If you are interested in this discussion, please take a minute to post your questions.

nwcs

I'll re-submit my question from the other thread:

What techniques does a grader use to determine AU-58 from MS and specifically what are the areas of a coin to look at? Obviously, it will have to be a bit general since each series has its own characteristics.

TheNumish

Should we just post the questions in this thread?

keets

yes, mr. montgomery, how long will it take you to look at "Anna" and send me a check? you've had the coin twice now since August 13. thanks for your attention to this matter.

al h.

3037911
3022268

goose3

here's one.

Why doesn't someone from PCGS (such as a grader) regularly post and contribute to some of the threads on the Coin board and Registry board?

robertpr

I'll second the question by goose3.

kieferscoins

Check out the new Question and Answer forum below the test forum.

Cameron Kiefer

RLinn

Rick, did you get to choose your own logo or did Carol make you choose form the list like the rest of us newbies?

Seriously, can you discuss the graders' approach to differentiating between a weak strike and wear. Are key date/high value coins graded under the same time constraints as moderns and other common coins?

Rampage

Here is my question....And, I think, it is a good one and is also doable by PCGS.

When will PCGS start to distinguish between type 1, type 2 and type 3 of the 1972 IKE dollars?? I can submit 8 of them for grading as soon as you say so. Thank you for your time.

dakra

How does the whole grading process work from box open, processing, grading, slabbing and then boxing to be shipped. For Example:
Does the shipping department open the box, prepare it for the grader?
Grader Grades
Grader enters the grading info into the computer
Grader sents it to be slabbed
coin is labeled and slabbed
sent to shipping to be packaged and sent out

-Thanks!
-David

dakra

any plans (not to be a wise guy) to institute the use of white cloth gloves?

-David

DHeath

It appears Carol has the Q&A forum up (not sure if it's still in test phase), and I like the idea of pre-posting questions. Carol, I appreciate your effort. Please save posting your questions for that forum once she gives the word. Thanks!

BlueCole

Who in the grading process does NOT wear gloves?

B.

gmarguli

Why doesn't someone from PCGS (such as a grader) regularly post and contribute to some of the threads on the Coin board and Registry board?

They do. They just want to remain anonymous. If they actually posted who they were they'd probably be flooded with PMs asking all sorts of questions.

braddick

I agree, plus with the negative tone sometimes read here of the graders, what it to motivate them to stick around?
The paycheck's the same with or without the abuse.

SportsModerator2

To my knowledge Rick is the only one who has come on and posted, under his own name.

I picked Rick's logo. I've always thought that if you are an employee you should use the logo. Unfortunately I can't lock out non- employees' from using it.

Carol

lincolnSence

Carol - thanks for arranging. Could Rick speak to the financial stability of PCGS and also to the tight grading standards that seem to currently exist? Did these standards always exist or is there really fluctuations in standards? Why are there fluctuations in the standards? Politics? Business reasons? What? Thanks in advance.

Bear

Braddick - How can you accuse us tender hearted Forum Members of having negetive attitudes.
The next thing you will accuse us of, is being mean and nasty to one another. I will have you know
that this Forum is composed of nothing but sunshine, birds singing and the smell of fresh flowers.
I hope you feel ashamed for not having the faith. We like all coin graders. We like em ; broasted ,roasted, toasted, sushi style. fricasied,shish-ka-bobed, carmalized,
baked, broiled, fried, poached, stewed, braised, smoked, pickled, boiled , blanched, seared and BBQd.

Bear

MartyF

Great job DHeath....this is a great think you've accomplished....thanks

STEWARTBLAYNUMIS

Rick - Will you look at ALL the coins in the Indian cent " Showdown"
I have never seen you on the bourse floor in Long Beach.
Can I persuade you to make an appearance and look at the
display ?



The early NGC holders had a problem especially causing copper to turn.Their holders were changed.Has PCGS ever experienced copper coins to turn in the holder because of the plastic or the gasket ?

Stewart

Placid

I saw a Q&A section listed the other day now it is gone or I can't see it

construct

I would love to see what Rick has to say, but my computer won't go into the chat room. I suspect it's some odd Macintosh problem. In fact until now, I didn't know that the chat room was even usable.

smprfi

Rick what tools are used when cracking a coin out of a slab for crossover?

toners

I have some beautiful toned coins that I know are natural toneed in holderssuch as DBL mints sets, some of the early public blue cardboard holders that were were in a plastic case with foam isert on back, they have some fantastic colors, but afraid if I sent some of them in they would get body bagged because some of the colors are so intense, would it help to send a phot of the coins in the holder so you could see the uniformity with other coins in the holder. I work to hard for my money to hate have it thrown away hoping it will get slabbed then sent back body bagged.
THanks
Allen (toners)

nwcs

Yeah, the forun appears to be invisible right now.

Another question I would have is what criteria does it take to become a PCGS grader. I'm not looking for employment information, but rather the types of tests and procedures graders go through in order to qualify themselves for a particular coin series as a grader. And as a corollary to that, whether those procedures/tests can be turned into a product (hint, hint) that we can buy and become expert graders in the series we are interested in.

Neil

nwcs

worth keeping up top for more questions

Russ

smprfi,

You are a man possessed of a powerful intellect. How do I know? You asked the question I was going to ask.

Russ, NCNE

tradedollarnut

I have a question for Rick:

In the trade dollar series there are two dates notorious for being weakly struck on the stars - the 1877 circulation strike and the 1880 proof.

The 1877 is found weakly struck on 99% of the coins extent, the 1880 on perhaps 30-40%. I have seen 1877's that were stone cold MS65-66 coins but, of course, were weakly struck on the stars and were in PCGS MS64 holders. I have been told that in order to be considered for MS65, the stars must be fully struck. Is this true? Even for a date that is 99% of the time weakly struck? What if the coin were more fully struck than 98% of the coins of this date (but still had a few stars flat? Note that I've seen extremely high grade examples (of other dates) with a few stars weak - where is the line drawn?

If it is true that the coin must be fully struck for MS65, then why have I seen PCGS PF66 and PF67 examples of the 1880 proof with weakly struck stars? It would seem to me that a full strike would be more important on a proof coin than on a business strike. Can you explain this to me, please!?! Thanks!

its4real

Rick - I'm new to this...what makes an MS-65 an MS-65? Exactly what characteristics do I look for?

(belive me - I need to know - the population around here is getting rabid)

goyankeez

Specifically how does PCGS designate CAM/DCAM on post 1950 coins. I'm hoping Rick can clarify what would make DCAM and what wouldn't. Perhaps with some pictures. Thanks.

oreville

D Heath: Can I suggest that you prepare a posting consolidating all the questions (with poster's name first) so that they are easier to see? Ramping up and diown the thread to see the different questions will finish off my eyes for sure.