Does anyone believe coin grades should wear gloves when grading?

mercurynut

I do! I have seen too many coins in all holders with fingure prints.

Russ

It's not the graders that fingerprint the coins. It's the slabbing people.

Russ, NCNE

airplanenut

They shouldn't--when I wear gloves, I do have a terrible time holding a coin. I'd rather the graders hold them the most securely.

Jeremy

stman

<< <i>It's not the graders that fingerprint the coins. It's the slabbing people >>



And you know this how? Man, you get around dude.

Russ

<< <i>And you know this how? >>



Because when I had a coin come back with a print an investigation was launched at PCGS and it was traced to the sealing room. It was a thumb print from pushing the coin in to the O Ring. At least that's what I was told by Charlie.

Russ, NCNE

UncleWiggly

What if the coin already has a thumb print before it is sent in to PCGS? I got a couple slabbed coins and that's what I figured had happened. Will PCGS note that a coin shows up with a fingerprint?

Jerry

airplanenut

<< <i>What if the coin already has a thumb print before it is sent in to PCGS? I got a couple slabbed coins and that's what I figured had happened. Will PCGS note that a coin shows up with a fingerprint?

Jerry >>

No, but they'll downgrade you

stman

I understand there has been a fingerprint problem with this service. I also truly believe these coins are cracked out sooooo many times and it's the "crackers" doing the fingerprinting.

spy88

It is my personal belief that ALL collectible item handlers at ALL grading services should be wearing gloves and working closely over a well-padded non-rebounding surface! These are our coins they're handling, regardless of value. And here are the gloves they should be using IMO.



As for fingerprints, they show up under UV light. Why wouldn't it be possible for a table to be set up to scan all coins for prints prior to grading? If prints are found on the surfaces, they can notify the owner before going any further? I know this would further slow down the turn-around times, but wouldn't it be worth it to you to know your coin(s) had prints on them?

Nah!!!!! Just get a UV lamp and do it yourself before submitting!

KlectorKid

I dont think they should.

ms70

Russ, Did they say what happened to the offending fingerprinter? Re-trained, fired, etc.?

Myqqy

They shouldn't--when I wear gloves, I do have a terrible time holding a coin. I'd rather the graders hold them the most securely.

I'm not up on the latest glove technology, but doesn't anybody make a glove that would allow for fine motor skills (like holding a coin)? We can put a man on the moon but we can't make a coin-holding glove.....

atarian

we need a glove-ologist on this board

stujoe

They should work as if in one of those laboratory Clean Rooms.

robertpr

If you're having problems holding the coins when wearing gloves, it's not the material or loss of touch, etc. It's just that the glove doesn't fit you right. A perfectly fitting glove shouldn't create any problems, unless it's one of those giant gardening gloves LOL

bestbino

Ok, I just couldn't resist this one. After all the grief I got being the Rookie.
Dah --- DO YOU THINK PCGS WOULD HIRE ME ???????

ccex

Will PCGS ever establish a respectable coin doctoring affiliate (as NCS is to NCG)? If so, what are the odds that there is no fee for removing fingerprints placed on the coin by PCGS slabbers?

lava

Is it asking too much that the graders and slabbers both master the art of levitating objects. They wouldn't even need to touch the suckers. If they got really good they could just levitate the suckers back to the submitters and save us postage as well.

Hey, it is my 1,000 post, so I had to reach it with a boom.

Conder101

<< <i>We can put a man on the moon but we can't make a coin-holding glove..... >>


We can't put a man on the moon either. We could back in 1969 - 72, but if we decided to today it would take us another ten years to create the technology. We could do it a little faster if we went back and recreated the 25 year old technology but it would probably still take 3 or 4 years to even do that.

jacktheknife

I am not sure what the solution is, but handling very expensive rare coins with bare hands is probably not a good idea. I know HRH addressed this once in the Q&A and he stated the graders felt they couldn't handle the coin as well. I agree with spy88, they could very easily work over a surface that would impart no damage if a coin was dropped. For copper, a fingerprint is a killer. I am afraid to send in my coins for regrade because of the potential for a print.

perfectstrike

I've only gotten one fingerprint in all my submissions. If I was going to make a change it would be masks and hairnets for graders and encapsulators. My modern submissions are almost always in mint cellophane and one or more always comes back wearing cough or sneeze kack. I feel sorry for the graders because I don't believe they are the cause.

perfectstrike

poorguy

If a fingerprinto comes back on your coin just do like russ did and have PCGS investigate it.

Level of carefulness hopefully increases with the value of the coin. It would really be a sad day when a PR66+ Cameo DCAM Morgan Dollar came back with a nice round fingerprint in the fields.

razorface1027

Does anyone believe coin grades should wear gloves when grading?

Yes! Furthermore, I always thought they did wear them.

XpipedreamR

What did this investigation consist of, Russ? Did they fingerprint the employees or something?

anablep

Yes they should wear gloves.
And the fewer people who touch the coins the better. The grader should also slab them. Otherwise there are too many variables introduced and that leaves the coin open to fingerprints or worse...

Russ

It's easy to sit and say the graders should wear gloves when we look at it from our perspective. We view a few coins at a snail's pace. Put on a pair of gloves; line up a few dozen boxes of hundreds of coins all in flips, than start pulling them out one at a time to grade at about 10 seconds per coin. Do this for several hours straight. See how many you fumble because of the gloves.

You think turnaround times are slow now? Just try adding some of the suggestions in this thread.

Russ, NCNE

IrishMike

Russ, excellent point. I think they are trying to balance out protection of coins with the ability to grade them in an acceptable time period. Fingerprints are just one of the issues, coins get sneezed on, moisture from breathing can harm them and of course how many times have we seen slabs with foreign material in them.

jacktheknife

I agree with the point Russ made, but look at the flip side as well. If they truly are trying to grade one coin every ten seconds, I would think that slow deliberate careful handling may go by the wayside. A gloved hand might save a print or two.

clackamas

<< <i>I am not sure what the solution is, but handling very expensive rare coins with bare hands is probably not a good idea. I know HRH addressed this once in the Q&A and he stated the graders felt they couldn't handle the coin as well. I agree with spy88, they could very easily work over a surface that would impart no damage if a coin was dropped. For copper, a fingerprint is a killer. I am afraid to send in my coins for regrade because of the potential for a print. >>




Jack you do surgery with gloves for obvious reasons but does this impair your dexterity? I think that the graders are probably quite aware of the implications of finger prints and there is no need for them to wear gloves however the sealing guy who has little idea of the implications of pushing in a Gem 09-S VDB with his greasy lunch thumb that should wear surgical gloves.

LAWMAN

surgeons wear gloves and do micro-brain surgery. surely, there is a glove for graders.

IrishMike

Should they and the slabbers wear masks too?

jacktheknife

Brian,
Yes, I usually do wear gloves when operating, but not during cases that require a fine touch! Just kidding.
Along those lines though, I doubt too many board members would want me operating on them if I was in a big hurry. To me, a coin every ten seconds, if that involves removing it from the flip, looking at it carefully, returning it to the flip, and entering a grade, is not enough time. But then again it's all about the almighty buck. Hhmmm, I wonder if I can get 10 gallbladders done in a day...

Nysoto

$30 for a 10 second opinion! $10,800 per hour!

Myqqy

line up a few dozen boxes of hundreds of coins all in flips, than start pulling them out one at a time to grade at about 10 seconds per coin

To me, this is key to the whole problem- you have expensive, rare coins being hustled in and hustled out of a grading room at a 10 second clip?? That's insane. Especially when you consider that a single cough, fingerprint, undergrade, overgrade, etc., can be worth big money. I'm sure the overhead for running a grading company is fierce, and yes, health insurance benefits for employees can be a killer- but these grading fees are not cheap, and you get 10 seconds and the increased chance of a fingerprint or grading error?? I'm sure that I'll get pounded by many people who will say that this is the only way to run this type of business, but it sure seems from the outside that some improvements could be made....

Myqqy

I think they are trying to balance out protection of coins with the ability to grade them in an acceptable time period.

How many people around here think that pcgs has been grading coins in an acceptable time period?