Pins are handmade items and can vary from unit to unit. Very few pins are truly perfect, “A” grades or standards are scrutinized primarly on their facing surface (front design or the side of the pin) and are graded on a curve. The sides of the pins are scrutinized to a much lower degree, and the back of the pins are not scrutinized except to regards to the posts and the back stamp. Generally, these pins that have minor faults to them. Some of these minor faults include:
•small, but noticeable, airbubbels
•small,but noticeable, enamel under fill
•some light imperfections in the metal plating
•surface scuffing or light scratches on the enamel
•nicks on the enamel or metal
•mulitple areas of noticeable dust mixed into glitter
•multiple areas of overturned glitter
•noticable areas of missing plating on sides on sides of pin*
• noticeable areas of missing plating on sides of pin*
• noticeable areas of enamel spillover on sides of pin*
• noticeable dust on soft enamel pins
• encased posts with slight wiggle
• minor, but noticeable, offset in screen printing
• plating imperfections on the front of pin
I test and polish all A Grade pins to ensure that they conform to the artwork and specifications of my design. Most A Grades are eligible to be paired with a custom color rubber pin back or a metal locking pin back.
*Note that the sides of pins are held to a much lower level of scrutiny when considering an A grade from a B grade pin. A grade pins may exhibit scuffing in the metal surface, minor enamel spillover or small areas of missing plating on the sides and still be considered an A grade.
These pins have noticeable flaws, some more minor or major than others. Like A grade pins, B grade pins are primarily scrutinized based on their facing surface (the front of the pin) with some scrutiny for their sides and, with exception to the posts and back stamp, are not scrutinized on the back of the pin. Some of the flaws that would qualify a pin as a B grade include:
• noticeable or multiple areas of under filled enamel
• moderately scuffed enamel or metal
• multiple points of imperfections on the metal plating
• multiple air bubbles in the enamel
• missing metal lines
• missing enamel on a small portion of the pin
• noticeable off-set screen printing
• areas of low glitter
• one unfilled area of enamel
• enamel staining on sides or back of pin
• overfilled enamel that floods some metal lines
• some missing plating on duochrome pins
• large amounts of glitter in areas where there shouldn’t be
• noticeable amounts of dust on soft enamel
• small gouges or marks on enamel
• encased posts that have significant sway
• large areas of imperfection of the metal on the sides of the pin
• large areas of plating missing on back of pin
A seconds grade pin might not be as nice as a Standard Grade, but it is still highly wearable and can make a good additional to a collection if the imperfections noted above are not bothersome to a collector.
On occasion, I may sell “B2 Grade” pins, which are pins that I consider to be slightly more defective than a Seconds (B Grade) pin, but are not considered junk, for a deep discount.
