When I was in college one of the projects I worked on was evaluating Kodak's T-Maxx film for a senior astronomy project (Physics major). Anyway what we did was take the film and bake it in a variety of gasses at a low temperature. The oven for this was about the size of a bread box, had some fittings for the gases, etc. and could be sealed and lightly pressurized, it would not be hard to take slabs and put them in an apparatus like this and inject various gasses into the interior. Baking it might loosen up the slab enough to get the gasses in.
The goal of the experiment was to figure out the right combination of gasses, temperature and time that would make the film the most light sensitive thereby giving the best pictures of dim stars.
I spent many, many hours laying on the cool granite floor of the lab in total darkness waiting for the timer to go off! Lots of time to think!
@LTOMCC said:
On the plus side if you like toned coins, after years of searching, and sifting through terrible vendors who overcharge, I finally found the perfect place for me. Six months ago I ordered a coin off of eBay from another vendor that cost $500. Weeks later, I discovered almost the exact same coin from edynamicmarketing, that was of superior quality and only cost $150. The more I looked on their eBay page, and the more I comparison shopped, I realized that almost every other vendor is gouging their customers. Also they stay very true to their 14 day return policy and some of the toned coins i've gotten that I just didn't like or i thought were AT I sent them back with no issues.
This does not excuse fraudulently trying to take advantage of consumers. They buy a straight graded common date coin for around $50, gas it in the slab then market it as a straight graded "monster toner" for $2k or more. They are also misrepresenting PCGS in the process by doing so.
****I really enjoy hearing other collector sentiments on this topic, "Coin Toning" as I'm similarly skeptical yet the slabbing practice has taken on a life of its own, which has muddled truly collector-driven issues and for that reason I look at it this way with edynamicmarketing and any other company selling toned coins:
1. People should by the coin not the holder.
2. Only a fool would think that every slabbed as a natural toned coin is natural. I think that 99 percent of the toned coins being sold anywhere are AT in some form or another. Gassing, Torching, Etc. For example how many Toned American Silver Eagles (not details graded or genuine) currently being sold on ebay do you really think are natural? 1 Percent if your lucky is what I think. Coins just don't tone that way or that fast, it's just that simple.
3. People should not place much value of the holder grade when it comes to Toned Coins. If you submit the same toned coin to PCGS, NGC & ANACS you are likely to get 3 conflicting decisions on authenticity and grade. Take for example this, Do a quick search on ebay for "toned silver eagles pcgs" it generates results for 259 toned coins with prices reaching over 5 thousand dollars for a coin only 20 years old that seems to have toned a million colors, (Still a beautiful coin If you ask me) but worth 5k? I don't know. Now do that exact same search for "toned silver eagles" but replace pcgs with ngc and it generates results for about 10 toned silver eagles all in the 200 dollar range with really no color at all. Reason PCGS thinks coins can tone naturally in 20 years like the ones in their holder while ngc thinks that ALL silver eagles of color are AT. Just call and ask them.
4. Always keep in mind that the grading companies also grade on eye appeal. Eye appeal is as different from one person to another and can vary widely. I could never understand how anyone could consider eye appeal to be a grading factor for a final grade on a coin since a coin's beauty is in the eye of the beholder and varies from person to person. I think coins should only grade on technical merit so when you say "This does not excuse fraudulently trying to take advantage of consumers. They buy a straight graded common date coin for around $50, gas it in the slab then market it as a straight graded "monster toner" for $2k or more." ****you are wrong in making such a claim because you have graded that coin on eye appeal and YOUR emotional opinion not on the technical grade, which is based on science rather than an emotional opinion. ****Further more you state _"They are also misrepresenting PCGS in the process by doing so.", and personally I think that it is the grading company in question that is doing the misrepresenting because THEY are the ones that say their holders are "toning proof" as part of their marketing campaign to have you pay your 20 bucks to let them place you coin an a holder no more tone resistant then a 2 dollar slab you can purchase on ebay direct from china with might I add FREE SHIPPING. I can put 100 slabbed coins in storage go back in a year and 40 of those coins will show discoloration of some nature. I know this because it has happened to me.
5. If you are in the market for a toned coin raw, toned before it was slabbed or toned after it was slabbed and don't have the ability of putting your hands on the coin prior to purchase be sure that the company your are buying it from offers a refund policy (which edynamicmarketing does offer, it's a 14 day no questions asked refund including shipping).
6. Make your own decision on a coin and don't allow others to influence you as their motives my not be sincere. They may be competitors looking for a way to keep the prices inflated (everyone hated walmart when they came to town) by manipulating the way you should view a coin or the company selling that coin.
7. NEVER pay more when you can pay less, and because 99 percent of the toned coins have not toned that way naturally, buy the coins that you like because they are beautiful to YOU not because of what the plastic holder says.
8. I am for more companies like edynamicmarketing because I like paying less then more.****
I am thinking that a chemical solution is placed in a pressure cooker with the slabs on some sort of platform over the solution. Seal it up and put it over heat and the holder that is water tight at 1 atmosphere is no longer gas tight. The chemicals are forced into the slab, coloring the coin. Once taken out, there may be some residual moisture in the holder so it is heated to force the moisture out.
@UtahCoin said:
The seller is edynamicmarketing. I looked at his 2000+ completed auctions, most are toned coins. They range from the most ugly AT coins you'll ever see, to a handful of legit looking toners. Many are raw, I suspect those may have been body bagged by the TPG. NGC, PCGS, ANACs holders, Morgans to modern....
I really enjoy hearing other collector sentiments on this topic, "Coin Toning" as I'm similarly skeptical yet the slabbing practice has taken on a life of its own, which has muddled truly collector-driven issues and for that reason I look at it this way with edynamicmarketing and any other company selling toned coins:
People should by the coin not the holder. Always keep in mind that the grading companies also grade on eye appeal. Eye appeal is as different from one person to another and is an emotional opinion. I think coins should only grade on technical merit which is based on science rather than an emotional opinion.
I could never understand how anyone could consider eye appeal to be a grading factor for a final grade on a coin since a coin's beauty is in the eye of the beholder and varies from person to person. Because of this it is my opinion that the fact of when the toning occured pre or post slabbing does not matter, as the toning only adds to the eye appeal and not the technical merits of the coin grade. I am for more companies like edynamicmarketing because I like paying less then more.
I really enjoy hearing other collector sentiments on this topic, "Coin Toning" as I'm similarly skeptical yet the slabbing practice has taken on a life of its own,
which has muddled truly collector-driven issues and for that reason I look at it this way with edynamicmarketing and any other company selling toned coins:
People should by the coin not the holder. Always keep in mind that the grading companies also grade on eye appeal. Eye appeal is as different from one person to
another and is an emotional opinion. I think coins should only grade on technical merit which is based on science rather than an emotional opinion.
I could never understand how anyone could consider eye appeal to be a grading factor for a final grade on a coin since a coin's beauty is in the eye of the beholder and
varies from person to person. Because of this it is my opinion that the fact of when the toning occured pre or post slabbing does not matter, as the toning only adds to the
eye appeal and not the technical merits of the coin grade. I am for more companies like edynamicmarketing because I like paying less then more.
@panexpoguy said:
I am thinking that a chemical solution is placed in a pressure cooker with the slabs on some sort of platform over the solution. Seal it up and put it over heat and the holder that is water tight at 1 atmosphere is no longer gas tight. The chemicals are forced into the slab, coloring the coin. Once taken out, there may be some residual moisture in the holder so it is heated to force the moisture out.
Why doesn't PCGS incorporate some sort of moisture and temperature detector in the slab that will indicate water has entered the slab at some point or the temperature has exceeded a certain limit? Too costly?
I think it likely that PCGS already has their legals investigating whether or not what this guy is doing is actionable...hence the absence of PCGS officials this thread.
****I really enjoy hearing other collector sentiments on this topic, "Coin Toning" as I'm similarly skeptical yet the slabbing practice has taken on a life of its own, which has muddled truly collector-driven issues and for that reason I look at it this way with edynamicmarketing and any other company selling toned coins:
1. People should by the coin not the holder.
2. Only a fool would think that every slabbed as a natural toned coin is natural. I think that 99 percent of the toned coins being sold anywhere are AT in some form or another. Gassing, Torching, Etc. For example how many Toned American Silver Eagles (not details graded or genuine) currently being sold on ebay do you really think are natural? 1 Percent if your lucky is what I think. Coins just don't tone that way or that fast, it's just that simple.
3. People should not place much value of the holder grade when it comes to Toned Coins. If you submit the same toned coin to PCGS, NGC & ANACS you are likely to get 3 conflicting decisions on authenticity and grade. Take for example this, Do a quick search on ebay for "toned silver eagles pcgs" it generates results for 259 toned coins with prices reaching over 5 thousand dollars for a coin only 20 years old that seems to have toned a million colors, (Still a beautiful coin If you ask me) but worth 5k? I don't know. Now do that exact same search for "toned silver eagles" but replace pcgs with ngc and it generates results for about 10 toned silver eagles all in the 200 dollar range with really no color at all. Reason PCGS thinks coins can tone naturally in 20 years like the ones in their holder while ngc thinks that ALL silver eagles of color are AT. Just call and ask them.
4. Always keep in mind that the grading companies also grade on eye appeal. Eye appeal is as different from one person to another and can vary widely. I could never understand how anyone could consider eye appeal to be a grading factor for a final grade on a coin since a coin's beauty is in the eye of the beholder and varies from person to person. I think coins should only grade on technical merit so when you say "This does not excuse fraudulently trying to take advantage of consumers. They buy a straight graded common date coin for around $50, gas it in the slab then market it as a straight graded "monster toner" for $2k or more." ****you are wrong in making such a claim because you have graded that coin on eye appeal and YOUR emotional opinion not on the technical grade, which is based on science rather than an emotional opinion. ****Further more you state _"They are also misrepresenting PCGS in the process by doing so.", and personally I think that it is the grading company in question that is doing the misrepresenting because THEY are the ones that say their holders are "toning proof" as part of their marketing campaign to have you pay your 20 bucks to let them place you coin an a holder no more tone resistant then a 2 dollar slab you can purchase on ebay direct from china with might I add FREE SHIPPING. I can put 100 slabbed coins in storage go back in a year and 40 of those coins will show discoloration of some nature. I know this because it has happened to me.
5. If you are in the market for a toned coin raw, toned before it was slabbed or toned after it was slabbed and don't have the ability of putting your hands on the coin prior to purchase be sure that the company your are buying it from offers a refund policy (which edynamicmarketing does offer, it's a 14 day no questions asked refund including shipping).
6. Make your own decision on a coin and don't allow others to influence you as their motives my not be sincere. They may be competitors looking for a way to keep the prices inflated (everyone hated walmart when they came to town) by manipulating the way you should view a coin or the company selling that coin.
7. NEVER pay more when you can pay less, and because 99 percent of the toned coins have not toned that way naturally, buy the coins that you like because they are beautiful to YOU not because of what the plastic holder says.
8. I am for more companies like edynamicmarketing because I like paying less then more.****
Were these straight graded or gassed after slabbing? This is disturbing.
I hope I don't come across as being an ass because that's not my intention but did you read this thread at all? I think your question would be answered and you would find yourself even more disturbed as I was.
For some reason, the other posts never loaded for me. My recollection is that there were only a couple when I commented, and I did not see any mention of the posts that now show the same coin as blast white in the same holder.
I offered him 'melt' value for one of the Peach dollars that someone pointed out earlier in the thread, that had been a legit (and ubiquitous) coin in an ANACS holder and was doctors as a monster toner. I emailed him asking how he got it like this, through heat, gassing, etc. He gave me a smart-alec answer back, and turned down my 'offer'. I got an email from eBay later in the day that someone unknowing sucker did a 'buy-it-now' for $2500 and I "missed out on it". Thanks, but no-thanks eBay, I'm glad I "missed out" on this one, and anything else he has to offer.
@panexpoguy said:
I am thinking that a chemical solution is placed in a pressure cooker with the slabs on some sort of platform over the solution. Seal it up and put it over heat and the holder that is water tight at 1 atmosphere is no longer gas tight. The chemicals are forced into the slab, coloring the coin. Once taken out, there may be some residual moisture in the holder so it is heated to force the moisture out.
Why doesn't PCGS incorporate some sort of moisture and temperature detector in the slab that will indicate water has entered the slab at some point or the temperature has exceeded a certain limit? Too costly?
My take on resolving this is pretty simple. You want to eliminate problems and create consistency as early in a 'process' as possible. In the food industry, for example, the goal is not to quickly identify and treat people suffering from botulism, or develop technology to identify if botulism develops after the product has been purchased. Rather, it is to make sure that your process eliminates the chance the botulism will manifest in your product. So you clean, cook, treat, and heat the product and set a shelf life.
For PCGS, in my opinion, the return on investment in safety features based on the holder is slowly eroding, while simple steps during the grading process have not been optimized. Imaging items as they appear after grading and before leaving PCGS is key. From an efficiency and cost perspective, it makes sense to incorporate imaging on every item graded as part of the basic fee. It could be engineered to take only seconds to add this to the workflow. ( After holder is sealed it is placed on an apparatus that images obv and rev simultaneously as well as reading barcode to associate images to coin on website)
Right now Secure is required on any coin valued over $50k. Needs to be dropped to something closer to $10k value. I would set the requirement to a level that includes coins frequently counterfeited ( ie certain lower grade Morgans that seem to crop up on ebay every few weeks ). This would substantially increase the demand for the service which would allow PCGS to reduce the cost of this level of service concurrently. If any coins that make attractive counterfeiting targets are imaged, you leave the fakers few options.
I would think that PCGS would be well served to revisit their entire service and pricing structure to streamline it to fewer service levels with less variation in cost that add more security value to the holdered coin. I look at the list of services and process currently offered and I think McDonalds. MCDonalds destroyed all competitors by providing cheap, fast and consistent products/service. Then they attempted to be all things to all people. Multiple burgers, multiple chicken sandwiches, salads, etc etc etc. Jack of all trades and master of none. Now chains focused on higher quality limited menus ( ie Chick-Fil-A and 5 Guys) are figuratively eating Mickey D's lunch.
I think that these types of changes would decrease average turn around time, increase profitability, increase consumer confidence in PCGS branded coins and protect the health and growth of the hobby. But nobody asked me and I am sure many will disagree.
It would be quite simple to use a label soaked in a dye that changes colors when it is heated past some threshold.
I've been an advocate for imaging every coin they grade for a while now.
Interestingly on my last submission I had 3 of 4 coins slated for TrueView imaging. When I checked it turns out they imaged the fourth coin in the group as well, just not with the fancy background of a Trueview.
@ChrisH821 said:
Interestingly on my last submission I had 3 of 4 coins slated for TrueView imaging. When I checked it turns out they imaged the fourth coin in the group as well, just not with the fancy background of a Trueview.
Comments
When I was in college one of the projects I worked on was evaluating Kodak's T-Maxx film for a senior astronomy project (Physics major). Anyway what we did was take the film and bake it in a variety of gasses at a low temperature. The oven for this was about the size of a bread box, had some fittings for the gases, etc. and could be sealed and lightly pressurized, it would not be hard to take slabs and put them in an apparatus like this and inject various gasses into the interior. Baking it might loosen up the slab enough to get the gasses in.
The goal of the experiment was to figure out the right combination of gasses, temperature and time that would make the film the most light sensitive thereby giving the best pictures of dim stars.
I spent many, many hours laying on the cool granite floor of the lab in total darkness waiting for the timer to go off! Lots of time to think!
K
****I really enjoy hearing other collector sentiments on this topic, "Coin Toning" as I'm similarly skeptical yet the slabbing practice has taken on a life of its own, which has muddled truly collector-driven issues and for that reason I look at it this way with edynamicmarketing and any other company selling toned coins:
1. People should by the coin not the holder.
2. Only a fool would think that every slabbed as a natural toned coin is natural. I think that 99 percent of the toned coins being sold anywhere are AT in some form or another. Gassing, Torching, Etc. For example how many Toned American Silver Eagles (not details graded or genuine) currently being sold on ebay do you really think are natural? 1 Percent if your lucky is what I think. Coins just don't tone that way or that fast, it's just that simple.
3. People should not place much value of the holder grade when it comes to Toned Coins. If you submit the same toned coin to PCGS, NGC & ANACS you are likely to get 3 conflicting decisions on authenticity and grade. Take for example this, Do a quick search on ebay for "toned silver eagles pcgs" it generates results for 259 toned coins with prices reaching over 5 thousand dollars for a coin only 20 years old that seems to have toned a million colors, (Still a beautiful coin If you ask me) but worth 5k? I don't know. Now do that exact same search for "toned silver eagles" but replace pcgs with ngc and it generates results for about 10 toned silver eagles all in the 200 dollar range with really no color at all. Reason PCGS thinks coins can tone naturally in 20 years like the ones in their holder while ngc thinks that ALL silver eagles of color are AT. Just call and ask them.
4. Always keep in mind that the grading companies also grade on eye appeal. Eye appeal is as different from one person to another and can vary widely. I could never understand how anyone could consider eye appeal to be a grading factor for a final grade on a coin since a coin's beauty is in the eye of the beholder and varies from person to person. I think coins should only grade on technical merit so when you say "This does not excuse fraudulently trying to take advantage of consumers. They buy a straight graded common date coin for around $50, gas it in the slab then market it as a straight graded "monster toner" for $2k or more." ****you are wrong in making such a claim because you have graded that coin on eye appeal and YOUR emotional opinion not on the technical grade, which is based on science rather than an emotional opinion. ****Further more you state _"They are also misrepresenting PCGS in the process by doing so.", and personally I think that it is the grading company in question that is doing the misrepresenting because THEY are the ones that say their holders are "toning proof" as part of their marketing campaign to have you pay your 20 bucks to let them place you coin an a holder no more tone resistant then a 2 dollar slab you can purchase on ebay direct from china with might I add FREE SHIPPING. I can put 100 slabbed coins in storage go back in a year and 40 of those coins will show discoloration of some nature. I know this because it has happened to me.
5. If you are in the market for a toned coin raw, toned before it was slabbed or toned after it was slabbed and don't have the ability of putting your hands on the coin prior to purchase be sure that the company your are buying it from offers a refund policy (which edynamicmarketing does offer, it's a 14 day no questions asked refund including shipping).
6. Make your own decision on a coin and don't allow others to influence you as their motives my not be sincere. They may be competitors looking for a way to keep the prices inflated (everyone hated walmart when they came to town) by manipulating the way you should view a coin or the company selling that coin.
7. NEVER pay more when you can pay less, and because 99 percent of the toned coins have not toned that way naturally, buy the coins that you like because they are beautiful to YOU not because of what the plastic holder says.
8. I am for more companies like edynamicmarketing because I like paying less then more.****
Almost looks like they're heating the slabs?
My YouTube Channel
I am thinking that a chemical solution is placed in a pressure cooker with the slabs on some sort of platform over the solution. Seal it up and put it over heat and the holder that is water tight at 1 atmosphere is no longer gas tight. The chemicals are forced into the slab, coloring the coin. Once taken out, there may be some residual moisture in the holder so it is heated to force the moisture out.
I really enjoy hearing other collector sentiments on this topic, "Coin Toning" as I'm similarly skeptical yet the slabbing practice has taken on a life of its own, which has muddled truly collector-driven issues and for that reason I look at it this way with edynamicmarketing and any other company selling toned coins:
People should by the coin not the holder. Always keep in mind that the grading companies also grade on eye appeal. Eye appeal is as different from one person to another and is an emotional opinion. I think coins should only grade on technical merit which is based on science rather than an emotional opinion.
I could never understand how anyone could consider eye appeal to be a grading factor for a final grade on a coin since a coin's beauty is in the eye of the beholder and varies from person to person. Because of this it is my opinion that the fact of when the toning occured pre or post slabbing does not matter, as the toning only adds to the eye appeal and not the technical merits of the coin grade. I am for more companies like edynamicmarketing because I like paying less then more.
I really enjoy hearing other collector sentiments on this topic, "Coin Toning" as I'm similarly skeptical yet the slabbing practice has taken on a life of its own,
which has muddled truly collector-driven issues and for that reason I look at it this way with edynamicmarketing and any other company selling toned coins:
People should by the coin not the holder. Always keep in mind that the grading companies also grade on eye appeal. Eye appeal is as different from one person to
another and is an emotional opinion. I think coins should only grade on technical merit which is based on science rather than an emotional opinion.
I could never understand how anyone could consider eye appeal to be a grading factor for a final grade on a coin since a coin's beauty is in the eye of the beholder and
varies from person to person. Because of this it is my opinion that the fact of when the toning occured pre or post slabbing does not matter, as the toning only adds to the
eye appeal and not the technical merits of the coin grade. I am for more companies like edynamicmarketing because I like paying less then more.
Why doesn't PCGS incorporate some sort of moisture and temperature detector in the slab that will indicate water has entered the slab at some point or the temperature has exceeded a certain limit? Too costly?
I think it likely that PCGS already has their legals investigating whether or not what this guy is doing is actionable...hence the absence of PCGS officials this thread.
****I really enjoy hearing other collector sentiments on this topic, "Coin Toning" as I'm similarly skeptical yet the slabbing practice has taken on a life of its own, which has muddled truly collector-driven issues and for that reason I look at it this way with edynamicmarketing and any other company selling toned coins:
1. People should by the coin not the holder.
2. Only a fool would think that every slabbed as a natural toned coin is natural. I think that 99 percent of the toned coins being sold anywhere are AT in some form or another. Gassing, Torching, Etc. For example how many Toned American Silver Eagles (not details graded or genuine) currently being sold on ebay do you really think are natural? 1 Percent if your lucky is what I think. Coins just don't tone that way or that fast, it's just that simple.
3. People should not place much value of the holder grade when it comes to Toned Coins. If you submit the same toned coin to PCGS, NGC & ANACS you are likely to get 3 conflicting decisions on authenticity and grade. Take for example this, Do a quick search on ebay for "toned silver eagles pcgs" it generates results for 259 toned coins with prices reaching over 5 thousand dollars for a coin only 20 years old that seems to have toned a million colors, (Still a beautiful coin If you ask me) but worth 5k? I don't know. Now do that exact same search for "toned silver eagles" but replace pcgs with ngc and it generates results for about 10 toned silver eagles all in the 200 dollar range with really no color at all. Reason PCGS thinks coins can tone naturally in 20 years like the ones in their holder while ngc thinks that ALL silver eagles of color are AT. Just call and ask them.
4. Always keep in mind that the grading companies also grade on eye appeal. Eye appeal is as different from one person to another and can vary widely. I could never understand how anyone could consider eye appeal to be a grading factor for a final grade on a coin since a coin's beauty is in the eye of the beholder and varies from person to person. I think coins should only grade on technical merit so when you say "This does not excuse fraudulently trying to take advantage of consumers. They buy a straight graded common date coin for around $50, gas it in the slab then market it as a straight graded "monster toner" for $2k or more." ****you are wrong in making such a claim because you have graded that coin on eye appeal and YOUR emotional opinion not on the technical grade, which is based on science rather than an emotional opinion. ****Further more you state _"They are also misrepresenting PCGS in the process by doing so.", and personally I think that it is the grading company in question that is doing the misrepresenting because THEY are the ones that say their holders are "toning proof" as part of their marketing campaign to have you pay your 20 bucks to let them place you coin an a holder no more tone resistant then a 2 dollar slab you can purchase on ebay direct from china with might I add FREE SHIPPING. I can put 100 slabbed coins in storage go back in a year and 40 of those coins will show discoloration of some nature. I know this because it has happened to me.
5. If you are in the market for a toned coin raw, toned before it was slabbed or toned after it was slabbed and don't have the ability of putting your hands on the coin prior to purchase be sure that the company your are buying it from offers a refund policy (which edynamicmarketing does offer, it's a 14 day no questions asked refund including shipping).
6. Make your own decision on a coin and don't allow others to influence you as their motives my not be sincere. They may be competitors looking for a way to keep the prices inflated (everyone hated walmart when they came to town) by manipulating the way you should view a coin or the company selling that coin.
7. NEVER pay more when you can pay less, and because 99 percent of the toned coins have not toned that way naturally, buy the coins that you like because they are beautiful to YOU not because of what the plastic holder says.
8. I am for more companies like edynamicmarketing because I like paying less then more.****
For some reason, the other posts never loaded for me. My recollection is that there were only a couple when I commented, and I did not see any mention of the posts that now show the same coin as blast white in the same holder.
I offered him 'melt' value for one of the Peach dollars that someone pointed out earlier in the thread, that had been a legit (and ubiquitous) coin in an ANACS holder and was doctors as a monster toner. I emailed him asking how he got it like this, through heat, gassing, etc. He gave me a smart-alec answer back, and turned down my 'offer'. I got an email from eBay later in the day that someone unknowing sucker did a 'buy-it-now' for $2500 and I "missed out on it". Thanks, but no-thanks eBay, I'm glad I "missed out" on this one, and anything else he has to offer.
My take on resolving this is pretty simple. You want to eliminate problems and create consistency as early in a 'process' as possible. In the food industry, for example, the goal is not to quickly identify and treat people suffering from botulism, or develop technology to identify if botulism develops after the product has been purchased. Rather, it is to make sure that your process eliminates the chance the botulism will manifest in your product. So you clean, cook, treat, and heat the product and set a shelf life.
For PCGS, in my opinion, the return on investment in safety features based on the holder is slowly eroding, while simple steps during the grading process have not been optimized. Imaging items as they appear after grading and before leaving PCGS is key. From an efficiency and cost perspective, it makes sense to incorporate imaging on every item graded as part of the basic fee. It could be engineered to take only seconds to add this to the workflow. ( After holder is sealed it is placed on an apparatus that images obv and rev simultaneously as well as reading barcode to associate images to coin on website)
Right now Secure is required on any coin valued over $50k. Needs to be dropped to something closer to $10k value. I would set the requirement to a level that includes coins frequently counterfeited ( ie certain lower grade Morgans that seem to crop up on ebay every few weeks ). This would substantially increase the demand for the service which would allow PCGS to reduce the cost of this level of service concurrently. If any coins that make attractive counterfeiting targets are imaged, you leave the fakers few options.
I would think that PCGS would be well served to revisit their entire service and pricing structure to streamline it to fewer service levels with less variation in cost that add more security value to the holdered coin. I look at the list of services and process currently offered and I think McDonalds. MCDonalds destroyed all competitors by providing cheap, fast and consistent products/service. Then they attempted to be all things to all people. Multiple burgers, multiple chicken sandwiches, salads, etc etc etc. Jack of all trades and master of none. Now chains focused on higher quality limited menus ( ie Chick-Fil-A and 5 Guys) are figuratively eating Mickey D's lunch.
I think that these types of changes would decrease average turn around time, increase profitability, increase consumer confidence in PCGS branded coins and protect the health and growth of the hobby. But nobody asked me and I am sure many will disagree.
It would be quite simple to use a label soaked in a dye that changes colors when it is heated past some threshold.
I've been an advocate for imaging every coin they grade for a while now.
Check out my iPhone app SlabReader!
@panexpoguy I agree with imaging all coins.
Same here
My YouTube Channel
Interestingly on my last submission I had 3 of 4 coins slated for TrueView imaging. When I checked it turns out they imaged the fourth coin in the group as well, just not with the fancy background of a Trueview.
Collector, occasional seller
I had that happen as well on a previous order.