Any good numismatic apps?

[Danye West]

I have several apps on my iPhone for coin collecting, and was wondering if there were any I should add.

 

I've got.

PCGS Photograde

PCGS Price Guide

NGC slab reader

 

[Coindude]

PCGS Coinflation

Kitco aka Gold Live

[RWB]

The "Mustard Stain" app is good for detecting real coin dealers from the fake ones.

I also use "UpGrade" which tells me which coins will re-grade at a higher and more profitable grade, but it only works for uncirculated coins.

Lastly, "Big Bucks" is great for finding under priced coins. (It also doubles as deer locator during hunting season.)

[Coindude]

"Big Bucks"

I think you have to get the "No Whammies" with that app as well to make it worth your while!

[Prethen]

The "Mustard Stain" app is good for detecting real coin dealers from the fake ones.

I also use "UpGrade" which tells me which coins will re-grade at a higher and more profitable grade, but it only works for uncirculated coins.

Lastly, "Big Bucks" is great for finding under priced coins. (It also doubles as deer locator during hunting season.)

 

RWB, I have those exact same apps and they work perfectly. I also have one additional one you might want to get - FakeMeOut which flawlessly determines if a coin is counterfeit or not.

[greysoldier]

Does the Mustard Stain App have an add on for Grey Poupon to determine if the dealer sells only high end items?

[robec1347]

There is also an App called SlabReader that scans PCGS, ANACS, ICG and SEGS slabs. It is free and works great.

 

It is written by a member of the PCGS boards (MonsterCoinz) and Coin Talk boards (carboni7e).

[RWB]

The new "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" app is supposed to be great at giving you one-liners to counter overpriced coin claims by dealers....But I have not tried it yet.

 

RE:"Mustard Stain." Yes, it will distinguish between high-end dealers, low-end dealers, croupiers and used-car dealers.

[david3142]

I'd love an app to tell me which of RWB's posts I should pay attention to and which I should ignore. Some sort of sarcasm detector perhaps?

[#]

NLT

[Coindude]

I'd love an app to tell me which of RWB's posts I should pay attention to and which I should ignore. Some sort of sarcasm detector perhaps?

I believe that's the "BS" app!

[RWB]

"BS" app....very appropriate.

[Nutmeg Coin]

I'm looking forward the technological advance which would afford collectors and dealers sharper grading capability; scanning over coins and currency with a powerful application analyzing surfaces for all the usual issues and grade sensitive merits.

[RWB]

This was done over a decade ago using a modified document scanner and a moving slab holder tray. Coins were automatically deskewed and normalized on the first pass, then scanned with a different set of sensors at 1200 dip on the return pass. Results were highly consistent and it correctly categorized over 1,000 slabbed Morgan dollars regardless of toning. The control software used data bins (equivalent to numeric "grades"). [This is similar to computer examination of manufactured parts.]

 

The problems were:

Used a lot of PC resources to run the code to break down images and sort things correctly.

Relatively slow (about 1 minute per side for both passes).

Scanner had to be on very stable base because vibrations were magnified by the system.

 

Results were "harsh" by commercial grading "standards." While detail and other factors could be incorporated, the system was mercilessly accurate and the same coin got the same score every time. When the control parameters were adjusted to fit grade descriptions and published illustrations, the system had difficulty in weighing the importance of conflicting defects such as detail vs scratches. The amount of work necessary to make a fully usable coin evaluation system was not deemed economically viable...i.e., collectors/dealers did not really want technical accuracy.

 

PS: it could pick out a whizzed coin or an added mintmark very easily.

 

[Afterword]

Even if it does become viable in the future, the grades will still be questionable to many collectors. The standards by which the application grades the coins will be suspect.

[Nutmeg Coin]

Eventually practical models of portable scanners will be available unless big money interests try to prevent it. They could be set for percentage correlation to grade levels according to a particular standard level. Some collecting groups have very strict standards like European coins, early cents, etc.. Other coins are graded on a curve, where more allowances are made. Let's say you have a Bust silver coin right on the edge of XF or AU or BU where value levels are substantially different. It could come up with percentage correlation to known populations in various categories. Speed of scan and data crunching? All those variables have existed with every other technology, cameras, phones, computers, etc..

[RWB]

Current technology would obviate the data crunching and scan time. The basic difficulty, as both implied, is that the system was not "human enough." It was easy to adjust to give more or less weight to key focal areas of a coin, but in the end it always came up with a score that was not human-biased, but was accurate.

 

All of the foibles of present "grading" can be included in the system - except people will not like the results.

 

(Of course, such a system could prevent grade inflation, selection bias and resubmissions - but aren't they part of the fun?)

[Afterword]

Could such a program possess the ability to distinguish between what is and what is not an attractive coin? Or would that no longer be a part of the grading equation?

 

Could it distinguish between PVC contamination and toning?

[Nutmeg Coin]

I'm pretty sure it could pick up any substance on the surface. If the technology were really advanced it could compare the surfaces of a given coin with other known histories of coins in terms of type of circulation, handling, mis-handling, toning environments, etc.. Or how about fingerprints, you got to wonder if a fingerprint on a coin has ever been matched up with exhaustive databases? There are other hobbies which have been subjected to rigorous analysis in most conceivable ways. Is there a computer program that would be able to assign potential auction money values to various types of toning that people found to be extremely exciting, like that common Morgan that just sold for around $14K? I'm sure there are people working on it but will not give away their systems as there is no advantage for them to do so.

[RWB]

Adding surface scanning for any contaminant is not too difficult -- just takes money. Heck, alloy composition could also be determined on the same scanning run.... $$$.

 

Feasibility is there, but the real market does not seem to be present.

[Afterword]

I can see where its ability to detect contaminants and counterfeits would be useful.

[Nutmeg Coin]

And on high tech currency (paper money) grading devices, I was told by one of the leading experts there is apparently no way to identify premium quality unless it is inspected as a raw note.

[RWB]

Reminds me of the old adage: "You can lead an expert to gin but you can't keep him from drinking" Or-- at least I think that's how it goes...