Pin Grading System

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Standards vs. Seconds

Standard pins: Perfect or near perfect. May include tiny specks, scratches, or other minor imperfections on the plating or enamel that are less noticeable.

Pins plated with black nickel or rose gold, have large areas of polished metal, or are bigger may have some minor surface scratches and still qualify as standard grades. This is due to the nature of the plating being more prone to scratches during production for these instances.

Seconds pins: Have more noticeable flaws from production, which may include but are not limited to: moderate scuffing, underfilled/overfilled enamel, or visible bubbling. For pins with screen printing, pins may have notably misaligned screen printing that affects the overall design, or smudged/faded screen printing details. Flaws vary for each pin but are still wearable. Great for backpacks!

 

Grading Process:

I usually inspect my pins in natural sunlight at about an arm's length and look over the surface for large scratches, scuffing, underfilled enamel, and more . I then check the sides and back to ensure there aren't large areas of missing plating. Usually when I inspect pins, I place significantly less scrutiny on the sides of the pin and almost no scrutiny on the back of the pin.

Please note that pins are hand made items so they are not perfect in nature. It is also important to remember grading is subjective and varies from person to person.