The other Doug stated they do this in like 6 seconds, not a chance in **** that is true....that's impossible ! If true at that speed, say 4-5000 coins a day....I'd like a test..... take the 4,000 coins you graded on Monday, grade them again on Tuesday....I think at least 400 of them get a different grade on Tuesday ! You can;t grade a coin in six seconds, if you do, you'll make errors !
He's right. Graders spend only a few seconds grading a coin and rarely do they use a loupe. That's not to say that they only spend 6 seconds total per coin. They have to receive the coin, scan it (or enter the tracking number), take the coin out of the flip, grade it, put it back in the flip, enter the grade into the computer, and place the coin back in the box. All that probably takes a minute or more per coin. So rather than 4,000 coins per day a grader will probably grade something more like 400 coins per day (give or take a few).
Doug - I would agree with you that people who don't know how to grade cannot grade a coin in 6 seconds. But people who do know how to grade can grade a coin in 6 seconds. And they do it all the time, day after day after day. If I have the coin in hand, it will be a very rare occassion that I cannot grade that coin in 6 seconds. And it's not just professional graders who can do this. There are plenty of dealers who can do it. There are more than few collectors who can do it. And to see the proof of that all you have to do is go to a coin show and watch. Any dealer who is any good will spend 6 seconds or less looking at coins somebody is trying to sell to him. They may talk about it for a half an hour, but the dealer has decided on the grade in the first few seconds. And like I said in the other thread, do the math. NGC grades approx 150,000 coins a month and PCGS approx 100,000 coins a month. Out of a 30 day month you have at least 8 days that are weekends. That leaves 22 days for the graders to be working. Then take away holidays, that drops you to 21 days. Then take away show days, in an average month that takes away 2-3 days. That leaves you with 18-19 days, 8 hrs a day, for the graders to be working. That works out to approx 8,000 coins per day that NGC would grade, and approx 5,300 per day for PCGS. Now use whatever amount of time you think it takes to grade a coin and tell me how many graders it would take to grade that many coins per day. Then tell me if you think that number you come up with is realistic. edit - one other thing you should consider. Professional graders get paid up to $250,000 per year.
