It was there forever, showed them using it on putty but now it's gone. Web searches and PCGS website come up empty as well.
What was the video about? If I had to guess, it would be to see if anyone used any chemicals on their coins to clean them or get rid of unsightly things?
I thought that was @GDJMSP and other's scare tactic to folks that experiment. There was really a video about it?
Hmmm - wonder why they made it private access only after all these years ? Did you by any chance search for their text articles about it Thad ? Or look to see if they are still offering their Secure Plus grading tier ? (For those that don't know, every coin that is sent in under the Secure Plus grading tier is run through the sniffer. Typically, that's the only time they ever use it.) "Sniffers" are very real, they are merely a piece of scientific equipment (a small machine) that is able to detect even minute traces of any foreign material on a coin. And PCGS isn't the only TPG that has and uses them, and offers special grading tiers so all coins submitted under those tiers are run through the sniffer.
Their most common use is to detect small traces of putty that is used on coins to fill in scratches, contact marks, dings, gouges, etc etc in order to get the coin to grade higher than it deserves to be braded. When putty is used properly by somebody who knows what they are doing, even the professional graders at the TPGs cannot see the putty with the naked eye or a loupe. So many puttied coins were being given clean grades, and higher grades - when they didn't deserve either one. All puttied coins are supposed to be labeled as problem coins and put inti Detail slabs. And putty is not the only thing being used on a coin that makes a coin a problem coin of course, there are kinds of things, foreign materials, that make a coin a problem coin. And the video that PCGS had available on their website for years and years, showed a short version of the list of materials what would make a coin a problem coin. Things like putty, PVC residue, any kind of oil, lacquer, varnishes, even many commercial products that leave behind what is advertised as a "protective coating" on the coin - all of those things make a coin a problem coin that can never be given a clean grade. But chemicals that are used to clean coins properly, things like commercial coin dips, acetone, xylene, the sniffer doesn't and can't detect those because there's nothing to detect. That's because those chemicals do not leave any traces behind on the coin. And of course it has to be noted that ONLY the coins submitted under the special and secure grading tiers (where you pay extra) are run through the sniffer. Coins submitted under all other grading tiers are NOT run through the sniffer ! Put another way, the vast, vast majority of all coins submitted to the TPGs are never run through the sniffer !
So now some of the old-schoolers who know some things...have secret knowledge most newbies don't... cool.
Far from it. That video was probably the least informative of all the sources about "sniffers". Over the years there have been many articles published, not only on the internet, but in the printed numismatic press as well. Here's a couple of example that are easily found on the PCGS site - https://www.pcgs.com/news/pcgs-coin-sniffertrade-uses-advanced-technology-to-detect-doctored-coins https://www.pcgs.com/news/pcgs-announces-next-steps-to-improve-and-protect-hobby And there have been numerous threads about it right here on CT, this one for example - https://www.cointalk.com/threads/do...her-level-of-quality-and-conservation.249149/ My point of course is that there is a mountain of information about the "sniifer" out there, and there always will be.
