Enough arguing! A Different Look at Grading

I think that as long as different coin series, years, and mints are graded using the same 70 point scale, everyone will have to live with a little disappointment in the grading system. It probably isn't possible to evaluate all of the wear, marks, luster, alignment, toning, strike, unique characteristics of a particular mint in a particular year -- doubled because separate examinations have to be made for obverse and reverse -- and come up with a single number that adequate combines it all into a correct and eternal decision that everyone will agree upon.

 

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who says we can't have an obverse / reverse grade in our "new" system? We can build the new one any way we want to.

 

Mike - Have you found any examples of a computer composite of a coin that you could take dimentional data from?

 

you're right... I give up

sheesh... the way you think, no innovation would ever exist. I am surprised that you haven't given up living in a cave around a fire, because without advancement in thought and technology and the way that we use technology in our lives a cave is where we'd be.

I suggested an exercise in creative thought. Of removing the known boundaries and saying what if. All you want to do is tell me that I'm dreaming, and maybe I am, but dreamers are responsible for most of the innovation the world has known.

As for this, no I was never shouting, so you are correct we were discussing it, but your constant dismissal of everything and calling it reality is narrowminded at best.

I was hoping to break new ground and think about somethin that can be improved by taking a different tac, but seriously... I give up. You crushed my dream. I'm tired and I'm leaving.

 

You don't really believe that do you???


The above statement aside - I don't know the specifics of who tried exactly what but going back to the airplane and light bulb discussion - there are advances in technology that make things possible that may not have been previously.

Mike hasn't given any specifics as to how he might come to a grade so I am not about ready to say his approach cannot work. I am willing to believe that a better method could be developed that most everyone could be happy(ier) with. What I think is that no matter what there will have to be a human element factored into the grade.

 

Why? Because a few people here disagreed with what you proposed? Nobody here is responsible for the way we grade today or has been instrumental in developing anything new in grading standards and technique. So, why can't that person be you, Mike? Like you said yourself, if everyone who fought for change gave up because of the lack of forsight by others, we would still be living in caves and eating berries. Go for it!
Guy~

 

Computers have advanced now - now it will work. :whistle:

But on a serious note, advances in programming and optical equipment might make it possible to assign a reliable technical grade if someone had the incentive to invest enough money into the project. That could be used as a starting point for a grader to say that a coin is authentic and was computer graded MS63 then go on to explain what characteristics should be added to the evaluation to refine the grade, if needed.

Computers are used all the time now to detect tiny defects and color variations in various materials. In a certain sense, coin grading should be much easier. It's only a matter of time...

 

I could see something like that working, and then on top of that, obviously, we would WANT to pay a premium for coins with more eye appeal.

 

I agree

 

Small off-topic point of correction. Men with slide rules, not computers, put men on the moon. Heck, it was only 25 years ago that four-function calculators became common and affordable.

 

Doug - It's the software that has gotten better as a result of the processing power and speed.

 

If you think that there haven't been any advances in computer technology other than size and speed in the past 20 years then think again. Most of our world is now operated by computers. Computers that have learned to do processes previously reserved only for the human mind. Computers can now learn, a process once thought impossible. They are also able to make distinctions between materials. They are used in surgeries because they are more adept at distinguishing between one object and another than the human mind. I think that they could be adapted to examine coins for things like wear and strike. I think that they can tell between the two. Reality is changing all the time, Doug. It's called innovation and technology and it's created by people who refuse to accept the status quo.

 

Ah !! What is this new fangled device called a computer ?? Is he/she a male or female ? Will it be used in the future to judge the winners of all beauty contests ? Will it replace our ability to think and make judgements ? How did we ever live without this invention ? Times must have been unbearable when people did actual manually labor ... and without the use of a Blackberry / Ipod and Laptop !! Wow , I don't know how anything ever got done in those old days. Well .. sad to say .. I believe this new fangled device will be used to some extent in the future to determine a portion of the grading of coins .. but not all. The human eye and it's attached brain will still be needed to fine tune the final result. More news ..... the current program it being tested at SGS with mixed results ... seems to be a glitch in the MS70 software !!!

 

Have to go with Doug on this one. Computers are great, but I don't think they can grade coins. I think we have had this discussion a couple of times.