Hey guys. This may have been posted before. Some of you may have seen it already but anyway, this is a 5 minute video PCGS put on youtube last year showing their grading process. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAQv6qmGcis
Does it bother anybody else that their graders hold coins in their bare hands, no gloves? Sheesh.... I always wear gloves and they're my coins!
I noticed that too. The first grader they showed was just flipping the coin all around with his bare hands and didn't look very careful at all.
I would imagine that if they grade over 11,000 coins a month, it would be easy to get 'cavalier' with the handling. However, I haven't ever heard of anyone suing them for damaging a coin while in their care.
From what I have read , most TPG feel they are expert enough to handle coins by the edges without damage. Also they are easier and safer to handle coins with the bare hand. To lessen the drop factor I would assume.
Still...there are of issues regarding bare hands. Don't we all secrete oils and sweat? We have been told that these secretions can have a negitive effect on the coins we handle, hence the recommendation to wear cotton gloves. Aw heck...for that matter if we breathe on the coins we handle we could be inflicting some sort of damage in the long term. I guess it would be unrealistic to expect the tpg's to provide grading in a "clean room" atmoshere.
I think he was the authenticator , probably checking it for any telltale signs ,even if he was a grader a pro can grade a coin a lot faster than most of us . rzage
