Whatever happened to digital (computer) coin grading???

7summits

Several years ago Coin World ran several articles about a computerized coin grading technique that was, as I remember, just about ready to be perfected and implemented. It would have taken the "human" bias out of coin grading. Why didn't this ever materialize?

Conder101

It was attempted briefly in 1991. PCGS had a computer grading system called The Expert that they used on Morgan dollars and Saint-Gaudens double eagles. They were using it in conjunction with human graders backing up the machine decisions. There was a another service that actually did produce slabed morgans that were(?) graded by computers, Compugrade. ANACS was experimenting with computer grading and that was one of the reasons that Amos press bought ANACS. They wanted to get into the grading market and had been researching computer grading. They decided to just buy ANACS though so as to get a jump by acquiring their computer grading research. By the end of 1991 all three had dumped the concept of computer grading as unworkable. There has been one other company that claimed to use lasers and computer to grade coins (LCG) but I don't know enough about them to know if their claims are true. PCGS and ANACS scrapped the idea and Compugrade went out of business.

7summits

Conder,
Thanks for the answer.
Also, thanks for the CD - got it a couple of days ago. I've been browsing through your book and it's great!

PerryHall

A computer can count bag marks but will never be able to evaluate "eye appeal" which is a major grading factor especially in this era of market grading.

boyhowdy

<A computer can count bag marks but will never be able to evaluate "eye appeal">

I agree.

Steve

MrEureka

A computer can count bag marks but will never be able to evaluate "eye appeal"

Nonsense. It should be relatively easy to code logic for eye appeal. Of course, people will still disagree with the computer from coin to coin, but less so than they already disagree with human graders.