What a trustworthy grading app looks like
The Sheldon scale runs from 1 (barely identifiable) to 70 (flawless mint state), and small differences near the top can change a coin’s value dramatically. A grading app earns trust not by promising certainty but by being clear about what a photo can and cannot show.
- Uses the standard Sheldon 1–70 scale that graders, dealers, and price guides all speak.
- Labels its output as an estimate, prominently, rather than implying certification.
- Explains what affects the estimate — wear, strike, visible damage — so you learn while you grade.
- Encourages professional grading for coins where the estimate suggests real value.
How CoinVault Pro estimates grades
CoinVault Pro analyzes your coin photos with AI and produces a Sheldon-scale estimate from 1 to 70. The AI evaluates what is visible in the image: wear on high points, strike quality, and obvious surface problems. It is the same judgment a knowledgeable collector would make from a good photograph.
What no photo-based system can fully judge is what graders examine under angled light in hand: luster, faint hairlines, subtle cleaning, and rim issues hidden by the photo angle. That is why we describe the feature as a pre-screen. It tells you which coins in a batch deserve closer attention, which is exactly the decision most collectors need help with.
App estimate vs. PCGS/NGC certification
Professional grading services like PCGS and NGC physically examine each coin, assign a grade backed by a guarantee, and seal it in a tamper-evident holder that the market trusts. That service costs real money per coin, which is precisely why an app estimate is valuable: it helps you decide which coins justify the fee.
A sensible workflow is to scan everything with the app, let the estimates sort your coins into “common,” “interesting,” and “possibly valuable,” and send only the last group for professional certification. The app saves you from paying grading fees on coins that were never going to be worth it.
Pre-screen your coins with CoinVault Pro
If you have a pile of coins and no idea which ones deserve a grading fee, CoinVault Pro was built for that moment. Download the app, photograph your candidates, and let the Sheldon-scale estimates and real eBay sold-price data show you where the value probably sits — before you spend anything on certification.