Rotation of coins in new pronged PCGS holder

WingedLiberty1957 · July 5, 2012 1:22AM

I have noticed on my last few submissions (and also on a friend of mine's submissions) that PCGS has become less careful with getting the coins (somewhat) straight in the new pronged PCGS holder.
Either that or perhaps the coins rotate more easily in the pronged holders and they spin around when shipping?

I never had an issue like this with the old round gasket holders (pre prongs).

Has anyone else had a similar problem?

Does anyone know if PCGS has any sort of Quality Control group that checks that the obverse of the coin (the side with the label) is least fairly straight in the slab before shipping?
Is it possible that the coin was actually placed in the slab this badly rotated?

Or does shipping typically bang around enough that the coins can easily rotate while shipping. Perhaps the coins are "looser" in the pronged slabs and are more easily rotated??

Just a note these are FRESHLY slabbed coins ... this is how they looked when taking them out of the shipping box directly from PCGS.
Thanks for any feedback and/or input!

(By the way, I recall viewing a youtube video on how to fix a rotation in a PCGS slab, however that involved banging the corner of the slab on a table very rapidly about 1000 times and he said it can sometimes "mar" the corner/edges of the slab ... also I wasnt sure if his technique would work on the new pronged holders (since the video showed his technique being used with the old gasket holder). Could spinning a coin in a slab like that (by banging it on a table) cause scratches or marks on the coin itself?

AUandAG · July 5, 2012 1:25AM

I have not seen that issue on mine. Have you tried the tap, tap, tap, on a corner yet?

bob

michiganboy · July 5, 2012 1:28AM

None of the 11 I've got so far have had any issues and they have been in all denoms.

lasvegasteddy · July 5, 2012 1:30AM

i know you're talking about something here
but
being here i've learned
it's all about the coin
that's an awesome 38 lincoln there...wow...thanks for sharing

"we now return you to this thread"

LindeDad · July 5, 2012 1:33AM

I have found that several of the ones I have got move easily in the holders. Tapping like with the old rattlers move them back into alignment for imaging.
Edit to add that using the post it pad on the desk keeps from dinging the desk top with the edge of the slab.

WingedLiberty1957 · July 5, 2012 1:36AM

Here is another one (just got this back on Tuesday) ...
not as badly rotated as the coin above ... but still rotated by about 30 degrees ...

I certainly don't expect perfection on this issue ... I think it must be hard to get the obverse of a coin straight in a pronged holder.
I guess someone at PCGS must do this work by hand???

but if the coin would just be close to being straight (say within 5 degrees) ... I would be happy ... 30 to nearly 70 degrees off is just too far (IMHO)
and makes it sort of distracting when you look at it.

lasvegasteddy · July 5, 2012 1:38AM

show off...

nicccceeee 1917 there

DorkGirl · July 5, 2012 1:44AM

<< I have not seen that issue on mine. Have you tried the tap, tap, tap, on a corner yet?

bob

>>

Have you tried this yet?

WingedLiberty1957 · July 5, 2012 1:47AM

That is my 1917 pseudo (poor mans) Matte Proof (sort of like a stuffed unicorn! a potential look-a-like of the the real thing (that doesn't exist anyway) ...

The 1938 belongs to robec ... a coin I got to photograph recently.

However this thread really is about the rotation (not the coins!)

I wonder if PCGS might offer any sort of (free???) service of fixing rotations if they came back from PCGS that way?

The tapping technique video showing how to fix a rotated coin in a PCGS slab ...

The Tapping Technique Video

This video shows the fix with the old gasket holder ... so I wasnt sure it would work with the pronged holder

Finally I was concerned having the coin scrape by the plastic prongs for 30 to 60 degrees of rotation might scratch or mar the coin?

Could that happen?

messydesk · July 5, 2012 3:00AM

Someone recently had nearly an entire order that was rotated, and eventually attributed it to them being transported home in a saddle bag on a Harley.

The prongs don't hold the coins as tightly as the old gaskets. The upside is that the reorientation exercise shown on YouTube need not be as traumatic to correct the situation.

WingedLiberty1957 · July 5, 2012 3:19AM

Then there is this ...

MilkmanDan · July 5, 2012 4:02AM

If you contact customer service and explain the situation, they will likely fix this under "mechanical error" service, including paying for shipping both ways. I had a few coins show up like this recently and after emailing pictures, PCGS offered to resolve it for me. I'm not sure if it's more likely with the prongs or not, but since they are new I wouldn't be surprised if things are still being fine tuned.

WTCG · July 5, 2012 4:13AM

Take the slab and tap one corner on a hard surface. Every time you do that the gasket will rotate a little. Keep doing that until the coin and gasket are rotated into your desired position.

LanceNewmanOCC · July 5, 2012 4:16AM

<< The upside is that the reorientation exercise shown on YouTube need not be as traumatic to correct the situation. >>

Spooly · July 5, 2012 4:45AM

I have had two coins (PCGS fresh) that had only 2 of the 3 prongs "clicked in". So the coin is at a slight angle....... you can never get a good picture.

WingedLiberty1957 · July 5, 2012 4:57AM

I did the slab corner banging technique using a circular motion ... I was hitting the corner of the slab on a big heavy paper catalog.

Seemed to work great!

I only needed about 100 bangs to get the coin rotated back ...

Thanks for all the feedback everyone.

Here is the fixed slab/coin after all the corner banging ...
It doesn't appear I damaged the coin ... or the slab.

Justacommeman · July 5, 2012 5:08AM

I have more of an issue with the new holders scratching easily no matter how careful they are handled. MJ

DIMEMAN · July 5, 2012 5:39AM

The coin should be put in properly. You should not have to do any "tapping"!

And it SHOULD be done at PCGS's expense...all of it!

For what it cost us for this service it should be done right!!!!

Coinbot · July 5, 2012 6:22AM

This really bugs me. I have several PCGS slabbed coins that are off center or even almost upside down! Annoying! Thanks for the tapping tip though and thanks to the OP for posting about this.

Makes you wonder how much time they spend grading your coin if they can't even put it in the holder straight. And if the cause is the coins moving around in shipping or whatever well they should not be moving around in the holders at all! Some of us like our collection to look nice and neat... not to mention whatever damage is done to the rim if any.

DonWillis · July 5, 2012 6:27AM

This is a processing problem within PCGS. Our apologies. This is not acceptable and we shoot ourselves in the foot.

If you have submitted any coins for grading that come back looking like some of these please contact me. We will correct the problem for no charge.

PerryHall · July 5, 2012 6:36AM

The coins were most likely put in straight and then they rotated within the slab while in transit or while being handled. They can usually be rotated back by tapping the corner on a hard surface.

WingedLiberty1957 · July 5, 2012 6:44AM

Thanks for that offer Don! That is really generous.

Spooly · July 5, 2012 9:13AM

<< I have more of an issue with the new holders scratching easily no matter how careful they are handled. MJ >>

crypto79 · July 5, 2012 10:18AM

<< The coins were most likely put in straight and then they rotated within the slab while in transit or while being handled. They can usually be rotated back by tapping the corner on a hard surface. >>

I agree with perryhall and MJ, I have coins rotate before during and after but I also have the gloss finish over the coin get scuffed from almost nothing in terms on contact.

stealer · July 5, 2012 10:40AM

<< I have more of an issue with the new holders scratching easily no matter how careful they are handled. MJ >>

Did PCGS change their plastic?

Justacommeman · July 5, 2012 11:08AM

<< 

<< I have more of an issue with the new holders scratching easily no matter how careful they are handled. MJ >>

Did PCGS change their plastic? >>

I actually mentioned this to Laura Sperber (new holders scratching easily). She told me she was experiencing similar issues and she addressed it with somebody at PCGS. I'm guessing Don. They think we are nuts. Well that part is true enough. However, I still think we are correct.

MJ

WingedLiberty1957 · July 5, 2012 11:15AM

The whole scratch issue is interesting, perhaps the plastic changed?

lkeigwin · July 5, 2012 11:30AM

<< 

<< I have more of an issue with the new holders scratching easily no matter how careful they are handled. MJ >>

>>

I would welcome a fix here. I get coins back from PCGS, freshly slabbed, that have scratches and scuffs.

However, PCGS slab scratches polish out much more easily, and cleanly, than NGC's.

Wouldn't it be nice if the surface of the slab (the part that is over the coin) were recessed a tad? So that it wouldn't touch when lain on flat surfaces?
Lance.

steveben · July 5, 2012 11:45AM

i too have recently received slabs that are scratched from pcgs. rotated coins do not bother me at all, because i can rotate the holder when i look at it...and i do frequently when i look at coins anyway. but scratches are not acceptable.

LindeDad · July 5, 2012 11:49AM

<< 

<< 

<< I have more of an issue with the new holders scratching easily no matter how careful they are handled. MJ >>

>>

I would welcome a fix here. I get coins back from PCGS, freshly slabbed, that have scratches and scuffs.

However, PCGS slab scratches polish out much more easily, and cleanly, than NGC's.

Wouldn't it be nice if the surface of the slab (the part that is over the coin) were recessed a tad? So that it wouldn't touch when lain on flat surfaces?
Lance. >>

It seems that over the years the stacking tabs have got shorter to where when you place a slab on a flat surface the viewing area contact the surface first and when slabs are staked it is worse as they rub each other.

magikbilly · July 5, 2012 3:00PM

With all this talk about scratches, what are the advatnages of having the "scratch-able" surface located where it is now, without apparent protection from another slab lying just above?

Best wishes,
Eric

crypto79 · July 5, 2012 10:10PM

<< 

<< 

<< I have more of an issue with the new holders scratching easily no matter how careful they are handled. MJ >>

>>

I would welcome a fix here. I get coins back from PCGS, freshly slabbed, that have scratches and scuffs.

However, PCGS slab scratches polish out much more easily, and cleanly, than NGC's.

Wouldn't it be nice if the surface of the slab (the part that is over the coin) were recessed a tad? So that it wouldn't touch when lain on flat surfaces?
Lance. >>

Great idea

Coppercolor · July 6, 2012 4:53AM

In recent lincoln submissions I have had quite a few coins rotated and I tapped them back into orientation without any trouble.

I have also noticed slabs that appear to pick up scuffing more easily. Plastics are strange. I used to row a whitewater raft for a living (for fishermen) and there were a pair of plastic oars (the business paddling end) that I used for six years without any chippage or breakage. Then I changed them out for less scuffed looking oars and the new ones, which looked exactly like the old ones, chipped and cracked and broke very easily. I went through four in eight months until I called the manufacturer who said their producer must have changed the production process without telling them and they were getting a lot of these complaints.

It's possible that PCGS didn't do anything different, yet the plastic may have changed.

Rotation of coins in new pronged PCGS holder

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