A question about the sniffer and Copper..what gives...

WaterSport

There was a lot of hope(?) about the "Sniffer" and if it had abilities to determined messed with copper. Especially copper of color. But all I am seeing and reading here (and other forums) is that copper of any color, is STILL not getting graded. So what is it PCGS??? is the sniffer unable to smell out messed with copper???. Inquiring minds want to know!

WS

WaterSport

Anybody??

mingot

I think the problem is this -- the chemicals that people use to tone coins are generally the same chemicals that cause coins to tone "naturally".

so what is there to sniff with regards to color if nothing has been left on the coin?

mingot

(pretty sure the sniffer is mainly great at detecting things that were left on the coin and that should have never been there: putty, nose grease, darkener, etc)

Unknown

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lkeigwin

The Sniffer is only routinely used on SecurePlus. PCGS has said it could be used on standard submissions, at their option. Clearly it's not used on the great majority of submissions.

It doesn't detect problems with color. It sniffs for traces of specific substances that might be used to alter the appearance or surface of a coin.
Lance.

LanceNewmanOCC

.
one video regarding the sniffer for those that haven't seen it or haven't seen it in a while

i think i have one more. i'll get to diggin
.

yep, here is another great video about the sniffer

i have these in my database but linked from youtube
.

WaterSport

Thanks everyone, I guess folks who want colored copper graded, will remain on the short end of the stick.

WS

jmski52

is the sniffer unable to smell out messed with copper???.

Interesting videos, thanks for the links. Firstly, let's not think in terms of sniffing. I didn't see any indication that the analyzer uses smell, or vapor to identify any of the contaminants that might be on the coin.

A reference is made to infrared analysis and the scale on the readout is absorbance vs. wavelength, which is indeed an infrared analyzer. Infrared is not as sensitive to the level of contamination as some other methods, so it is possible that the threshold must be set at an optimum level, which may miss some things which may affect copper.

Infrared is pretty good at identification, though. When there is a match, as long as the standard is similar to what's actually on the coin, it would be fairly expedient to build a computer database to assist in finding messed-with coins.

I noticed the bottle of Blue Ribbon which is being used as a standard. I've never heard anything negative about the effects of Blue Ribbon, so I would ask whether a trace of Blue Ribbon (or Coin Care) would work against a coin being certified.