Pin Grading

HOW WE INSPECT OUR PINS: We inspect our pins in either natural sunlight or under a 100w equivalent lamp. We look over the surface, checking for gouges, low fill, large scratches, large areas of scuffing, and more. We rotate the pin to ensure there aren't large areas of missing plating. Finally, we turn the pin around and ensure the posts on the back are secure.

Pins with special features, larger in size, are plated with black nickel or rose gold, or have large areas of polished metal that may have some minor surface scratches and still qualify as standard grades. Please remember that enamel pins are made and polished by hand. So no pin will be perfect and might include small imperfections in print, enamel, and polish!

GRADE A / STANDARD GRADE: These are as “flawless” as possible and the ones that go to our pre-order customers. They might include small imperfections only visible from an angle or while tilting in the light. None of these pins will have chipped enamel, broken/bent posts, missing screen print, etc.

GRADE B / SECOND GRADE: More visible imperfections that include Standard grade flaws as well as 1-3 other minor flaws listed below. None of these pins will have chipped enamel, broken and/or bent posts, missing screen print, etc.

GRADE C: More visible imperfections than “B” include 3-5 minor flaws listed below. These may include face flaws and more noticeable flaws (may include minor chipped or missing enamel). We do not sell major flaw pins and inspect every pin carefully. We don't want to sell a pin that we wouldn't want to display!

FLAWS MAY INCLUDE SMALL IMPERFECTIONS SUCH AS: nicks, dents, warped enamel when tilting in light, enamel dips, enamel bubbles, scuffs and/or scratches, over-polishing, glitter specs, dirt specs, dust specs, minor wrong enamel fill, missing enamel fill, small screen print issues, etc.

We do not grade the sides or back of the pin.