I just read about the new feature (in
Coin World) that PCGS offers to collectors and I thought it was pretty interesting. In this service a PCGS employee will insert a coin that is being graded into a scanner developed by Coin Secure Inc. The scanner will scan the coin and it will give a approximate grade. The interesting part is that the scanner takes a fingerprint of the coin (detecting all the scratches, details, luster, and wear)and it will store the information into the PCGS database for future reference. The scanner also detects if the coin has been tooled with, artificially toned, counterfeited, etc. PCGS also has a new holder for coins that have been placed in the almighty coin scanner. More info on this subject and pics can be found at:
http://www.pcgs.com/secureplus.html