"The Big One" Optical or Laser Grading of Coins

Stew

One thought I had is the thought that PCGS is saying that The Big One will change everything.
I don't think decimal point grading alone will accomplish as big a change as they are talking about.
If they have been working on this for two years (read in another thread, I do not know how long they have been working
on The Big One) . It seems to me it would not take that long to figure out the implementation of a decimal point
system.

With the advances in facial recognition software in the last decade and laser and optical technology advances
I think adapting these technologies for grading coins would be a matter of software development.
For the various variables needed to recognize certain aspects of a given surface.
Wear,Nicks,Reflectivity,Light Dispersion(Cart Wheel Effect).
Giving collectors the option to have your coin graded by computer or human
would definitely be a serious added value to the hobby. Given the shear number
of discussions and examples about overly graded coins in TPG holders
All of us that have been collecting for any length of time have one or two of these coins in
our collection that we look at the coin and the grade on the slab and say to ourselves
"What the *&^% where they thinking" It happens with Every Third Party Grading Service in business today.
And are the only reason that businesses like CAC were able to get started. They saw a niche in the market and filled it.

Just one idea that occurred to me that would be big enough to shake the coin collecting world pretty good
And my guess as to what "The Big One" might be.


Stew

mozin

Capped Bust Half Dollars have 450 marriages, plus around 200 more die states. Consider some are weakly struck normally, some are made from broken dies, some normally show very little dentils. There is no way this series can be graded by a machine.

cladking

<< <i>Capped Bust Half Dollars have 450 marriages, plus around 200 more die states. Consider some are weakly struck normally, some are made from broken dies, some normally show very little dentils. There is no way this series can be graded by a machine. >>




I disagree. I would agree that a consistent means of grading mint state
coins over 50 years old is impossible with current technology. I'd even
agree that it's probably impossible to consistently grade any of the classic
coinage with an extremely high consistency using current technology.

However, many of these problems could be overcome by simply using com-
puter assisted grading.

Most of these problems don't exist at all with moderns and they probably
could be graded with modern technology.

Perhaps the computer grading is strictly for moderns.

fcloud

I could see imaging each coin, but the computer grading simply won't work.

derryb

With my luck, my coins will always be graded while the lens is dirty.

Stew

Just one thought about it.
Computer Facial Recognition software today can pick out one human face out of
Multiple Millions of faces.
The differences in what makes one human face look different from another
are much smaller than what would make one die variety different from another
This technology is being used today, in airports,cameras above street lights
all major sports arenas, and a good number of satellites over head right now.
to name just a few. It is just a matter of cost for implementation and acceptance by collectors

All of this is just tongue in cheek flying of an idea. And taking a guess at what "The Big One" is.
As a certain coin collector I greatly respect would say
"Just Throwing Mud On The Wall"

Stew

lkeigwin

<< <i>With my luck, my coins will always be graded while the lens is dirty. >>

Ha! Wait...that might be an advantage.
Lance.

SeaEagleCoins

<< <i> ...Most of these problems don't exist at all with moderns and they probably
could be graded with modern technology.

Perhaps the computer grading is strictly for moderns. >>




Correct me if I'm wrong (and I am sure you will ) ... but with the Modern coins, isn't grading a simple matter of 69, 70 or pocket change? Seems silly to use a computer for that...

coinguy1

<< <i>Just one thought about it.
Computer Facial Recognition software today can pick out one human face out of
Multiple Millions of faces.
The differences in what makes one human face look different from another
are much smaller than what would make one die variety different from another
This technology is being used today, in airports,cameras above street lights
all major sports arenas, and a good number of satellites over head right now.
to name just a few. It is just a matter of cost for implementation and acceptance by collectors

All of this is just tongue in cheek flying of an idea. And taking a guess at what "The Big One" is.
As a certain coin collector I greatly respect would say
"Just Throwing Mud On The Wall"

Stew >>

I think your guess is an excellent one. However, differentiating one human face from others doesn't sound the same to me as differentiating one coin from others AND also determining its quality/condition/grade. Presumably, the software would recognize the same coin each time it got submitted, but wouldn't necessarily be able to accurately grade it relative to other coins, due to differences in strike, marks, etc.

cladking

<< <i>


Correct me if I'm wrong (and I am sure you will ) ... but with the Modern coins, isn't grading a simple matter of 69, 70 or pocket change? Seems silly to use a computer for that... >>




I sure wouldn't say that.

Unknown

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TigerGirl1398

Modern technology will blow your socks off. Get ready for it.

ambro51

I too feel that this is the thrust of what PCGS is going to do. Technology is so amazing, so versitile, and so non-understandable by 99% of the people in the world, that we cannot forsee what it can accomplish.


Technology, computer scanning programs, once in place, dont require a weekly paycheck. They dont call in sick, they dont have bad days, they dont fail to grade a coin MS70 just because it came to them in a white holder.

Technology has convicted criminals with a single hair. We are well on the way to bringing extinct species back. We can tell how much water is in a Martian rock...sitting there on Mars. Iris scans are commonplace in the highest security facilities.

Ive got coins sitting here which I KNOW are graded wrong. Ive got an 1876 gold dollar which has NO wear. NO nicks NO hairlines............but the detail is lousy. The feathers and ribbon bow...just sort of smooth and featureless.

I know that this coin was graded AU50 by a set of graders who do NOT know that this strike weakness is a hallmark of each and every 1876 gold dollar. But...let the laser grading system and computer softwear get ahold of this baby.....and when it is compared to the compiled data, and recorded images of this year coin....it WILL be graded correctly.


I say.........BRING IT ON.

cmerlo1

The most important thing, besides generating an accurate grade, would be that it needs to be repeatable. The same coin, months or years later, graded in the same system, should produce the exact same grade.

Edited to add: CoinGuy beat me to it!

JCMhouston

Can you imagine how much it would cost for all the buybacks if people started sending in everything for regrade with a new optical or laser scanner? We all know there are many coins that just are not there for the grade regarding marks (or wear for circulated pieces), a new tighter standard would be very expensive if the guarantee was maintained.

coinguy1

<< <i>Can you imagine how much it would cost for all the buybacks if people started sending in everything for regrade with a new optical or laser scanner? We all know there are many coins that just are not there for the grade regarding marks (or wear for circulated pieces), a new tighter standard would be very expensive if the guarantee was maintained. >>

But who said anything about a "new tighter standard"?