Tributes have poured in for numismatic icon Brian Cornwell, who nearly 40 years ago revolutionized the Canadian hobby by co-founding the country's first third-party grading service, following his death this fall.

A long-time collector, Cornwell teamed up with two well-known dealers, Bill Cross and Ingrid Smith, to launch the International Coin Certification Service (ICCS) in Toronto in November 1986. The firm quickly followed in the footsteps of the U.S.-based Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS), founded in the same year, to improve market confidence and bolster the hobby in Canada. Smith eventually left ICCS before Cross sold his shares to Cornwell, who ran the business for about two decades before his death on Nov. 21 at age 82.

said dealer Sandy Campbell, the owner of Proof Positive Coins in Baddeck, N.S., who met Cornwell in 1982.

Aside from the Internet, to the significant positive influence third-party grading had on the hobby in the modern era, Campbell added.

Cornwell leaves a twofold legacy in Canadian numismatics, according to Campbell.

Through his work, Cornwell also encouraged collectors to approach numismatic items Campbell added.

A COLLECTORTURNED GRADER

Born in Vancouver on Oct. 14, 1940, Cornwell moved east to attend the University of Toronto.

He earned his bachelor's degree in engineering physics in 1962 followed by his master's in electrical engineering a year later. In 1964, he became a registered professional engineer in Ontario and quickly found work with International Business Machines (IBM), a multinational technology corporation that opened its Toronto plant nearly half a century earlier.

Scott Cornwell said of his father's career, which would follow the computer path until his retirement in 1981.

Cornwell stayed with IBM until the late 1960s before moving to a pair of start-up firms, including Systems Dimensions Limited, a computer consulting company, and SHL Systemhouse, a systems integration business.

He returned to his childhood hobby of numismatics in the 1970s, forming relationships with fellow numismatists Jim Charlton, who began publishing his namesake catalogues in the early 1950s, and Chet Krause, who founded CCN's predecessor Canada Coin News in 1963.

said son Scott, who has managed ICCS for the past four years.

Owing to his education and ensuing career in the early days of the computer business, Cornwell according to his son.

While the 70-point grading scale originated in 1949, Cornwell applied that concept to Canadian coins for the first time.

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