Check out this PCGS lookalike slab

[Jakeblue]

Compugrade? I have not googled it yet, but I am sure someone here knows their story.

 

From the front, looks almost verbatim to a typical PCGS slab.

 

And, MS62.9? one-tenth away from being a MS63?

 

Linkster

[James_OldeTowne]

I believe this is actually a rare and valuable (and legitimate) slab. Conder101 would be better able to answer that, though.

[PerryHall]

They tried to use a computer system to grade certain popular coin series to a tenth of a grade. They weren't around very long.

[WoodenJefferson]

[DC Dawg]

The slab looks legitimate. You can see a sample of the Compugrade slab at http://www.sampleslabs.com/compugrade.html. According to the site, Compugrade started in 1991 to grade coins by computer. The company did not last more than a few months. Given the state of imaging technology then, I am not surprised!

 

Scott

[Oldtrader3]

Compugrade was pretty much focused on grading Morgan dollars. The slab looks legit to me.

[praedator-migration]

Very interesting...it was a good idea, the problem is that computers would be unable to assess "eye-appeal". I guess nothing can really compete with the human eye when it comes to coin grading.

[braddick]

No harm. No foul.

[DC Dawg]

Very interesting...it was a good idea, the problem is that computers would be unable to assess "eye-appeal". I guess nothing can really compete with the human eye when it comes to coin grading.

I've written about this before here and on my blog. I think computers can do 90-95 percent of the work including the aspects of eye appeal because you can determine what makes a coin appealing (luster, color, etc.). However, since eye appeal is also an emotional response, computers will never be 100-percent. That means the computer would do most of the work and a human would verify eye appeal.

 

Scott

[James_OldeTowne]

As a computer programmer, I tend to think that today's computer technology, in conjunction with digital microscope imaging, can do 80% of the work needed to grade coins. Unfortunately, that leaves an unacceptably large range of error on a 70 point grading scale - too large to give collectors enough of a comfort zone.

 

 

[Conder101]

Well most of the important information has already been given. The company was legitimate, they did use a computer for grading to one decima place, they were only in operation for about four months, and their slabs are quite scarce.

 

But the picture is misleading, the slab is nothing like a PCGS slab. They are pretty much the same size as the old small size ANACS slabs but slightly thicker and made of a denser plastic. The have a very solid feel to them. The also have flat square sides, and compugrade was the first service to pioneer a label on the top of the slab so you knew what was in the slab without having to pull it out of the box. (They beat SEGS to this by seven years and beat ANACS by 16 years.) And the edge of the coin is fairly visible as well. The Compugrade slab is one of my favorite slab designs

[MorganMan]

Has anyone noticed that the coin may be undergraded? If the photo is a true representation, I could see this in a 64.5 holder...

 

MM

[Coindude]

I'll have to agree with you, she does look undergraded. I would think 63 - 64 ish.

[James_OldeTowne]

I could see this in a 64.5 holder...

Nah, I interfaced my RoboGrader to the screen, and it said 63.1275 is the right grade.