I'll just come right out and say it: I'm a numismatist. Yep—I collect coins. I actually collect many things, coins being one of the more common hobbies I devote in my free time. Recently I was thumbing through my spare change, and I noticed the new Lincoln cent. Have you seen one? This marks the first new redesign of the US one cent coin in a loooong time. Pretty sharp lookin'. Shiny, new design on the reverse side.

If you happen to stumble across one of these new coins, go ahead and give it a flip and listen hard… notice there's no sound. A dull metallic "tink" and that pretty shiny 2010 coin spins through the air only to land silently in your palm. Now take out an older penny, say 1978 (the year ACI was founded) and give it a flip. Hear anything different? You should hear an angelic ring as it lofts and falls.

See, back in 1982 the price of copper made the US penny too expensive to continue to manufacture out of brass (95% copper, 5% zinc). So the US Mint switched and made the cent with a silver colored zinc center, wrapped in a thin layer of shiny copper. To the human eye it was the same old penny; but the “flip test” revealed that it's missing the ringing sound. And if you scratch it and peel back the copper you can see the thin brittle zinc structure under the surface. I feel that it was the right decision to make for the US Mint; but the one cent piece lost some of its soul in 1983.

So how can we apply this to appraisal software? We don’t feel that you should have to compromise the look and feel of the product to move forward. ACI2010™ retains a classic look and feel—while still adding shiny new features and functionality. No stripping of value. It remains the fast and fully featured product that you rely on to satisfy your clients.

Perform a WebUpdate, check out the new videos on the product and services… you will find that our product is solid and has that great feel—along with exciting new features at your fingertips.

Literally my two cents,
Andy @ ACI