Has anyone seen the video that PCGS has on their web site? It shows all of the steps that your coins go through to be graded and slabbed at PCGS. It was very disconcerting to me to see that no one there wears gloves. You coin is handled with bare hands by 3 graders and the person who slabs it. Hmmmm. This does not inspire very much confidence.
Here's the LINK to the video page. Choose your speed from there. edited to add the following: Watched the video and thought the following: PrintsCancelGreatScores PleasantCoinsGummed_upSeriously Prints on Coins Guarenteed in Seconds The video also confirms what others have said in previous threads. Your coin is graded after being viewed by up to 4 people for a total time of 20 seconds or less.
Well, what can we expect? Take a $30 fee, deduct costs of handling, security, slabbing, postage, insurance, promotions, advertising, etc. and there aren't many bucks left for compensating four graders. Look at what lawyers and plumbers charge, or what you pay for an a la carte baked potato at a classy steak house.
Yea, I thought the no glove thing was strange too. Maybe they are worried about fibers, or minute scratches? Would be a good question to ask them
agreed! I'm sure they don't drop coins or touch them on their faces, but it seems odd to me too that they forego gloves.
I'm gald that other people feel the same as I did the first time I watched the vedio. Hey mabey they don't wear gloves so that we the consumer can identify which grader had his or her slimy hands on our coins. Just take it down to the local police station and have them lift the print.
Professional coin graders never wear gloves - regardless of which company it is. Neither do coin dealers. They say they can't feel the coin with gloves on and it causes them to drop the coins.
Proofs, business strikes, specimens.... doesn't matter. I asked the same question of a grader and he looked at me like I was nuts. Graders (and dealers) generally NEVER use gloves because if you lose the tactile feel of the coin you run a much greater risk of dropping it.
Well for one thing, they should be handling the coins over a soft, padded surface if they are working in a TPGS because gloves or no gloves, they can still drop them. I don't know why everybody thinks these TPG graders are so God-like. I've been collecting for well over 30 years and would NEVER handle a proof coin without gloves, much less allow someone else to do it. For another thing, nitrile gloves are completely inert. If doctors and surgeons can perform their delicate work while wearing them, graders can certainly do so! By the way Prethen... nice 2 cent piece for your logo.
Putting aside the glibness of my previous post, I see the logic used, but I still think its a weak excuse and lacks professionalism. Local coin dealers and such can take their own risks with their own coins, but a grading company ,arguabley at the top of the food chain, should not do so with other peoples' coins. After all the posts about proper coin handling and preservation I've read in the past year and a half, its just a bit of a shock to see the "rules" set aside so quickly over a matter of convinience. I wear thin cotton gloves to handle my coins all the time and don't have an issue....and I'm someone who's typically all thumbs. If gloves are an issue, find another way. It doesn't take much thinking out of the box to come up with alternate means of safely and rapidly viewing coins.
Where do you get the gloves from. I would rather use the thin cotton myself but I can only get latex or vinal. Maybe even nitrile if I want to pay for the gloves with my left hand.
Wish I could give you a link to a site, but I get mine from my mother-in-law....who lives in Korea Doing a quick search on google, disposable nitrile gloves don't seem too expensive. $6 for 100 gloves seems pretty reasonable. Found some at THIS site
Thanks lawdogct, The only place I can find them in town is at a hardware store and they must not be the same as the hospital uses since they are $22 for a 100 ct. Thanks again for the link. One more question though. You wouldn't happen to know where I could get a Korean mother-in-law do you?
