Lessons from a Coin Show That Every Automotive Software Engineer Should Learn

Modern cars aren’t just machines—they’re rolling data centers with cup holders. As an automotive software engineer, I’ve learned more about resilient systems from a weekend at the Great American Coin Show than I did in most tech conferences. Seriously. Watching collectors, dealers, and traders operate revealed truths we face daily in connected cars: trust is currency, supply chains are fragile, and every second counts.

The Ecosystem of Trust and Reliability

At the show, you don’t just buy a coin. You buy a story. A reputation. Doug Winter’s name on a slab? That’s gold. John Agre’s handshake? It’s as good as a certificate. In our world, it’s no different. Your car’s software is only as good as the trust behind it.

Why Trust Is Non-Negotiable in Automotive Software

No collector would drop $20k on a “Rattler 50 cent Commemorative” without that CAC green sticker. Same goes for vehicles. You wouldn’t want your infotainment system running unverified code from a mystery supplier. Neither would OEMs.

That’s why security is baked into every layer:

• Secure boot chains check every line of code before it runs—like a dealer inspecting a coin under loupe

<

• Code signing and attestation use hardware-backed security (think ECUs with HSMs) to prove authenticity
• Trusted execution environments (TEE) keep ADAS and infotainment isolated from sketchy third-party apps

When we push an over-the-air (OTA) update to 500,000 vehicles, we don’t cross our fingers. We verify—every time. Just like a top-tier coin dealer wouldn’t skip provenance checks.

Here’s how we do it in firmware:


// Embedded firmware verification (pseudo-code)
if (verify_signature(firmware, public_key) == SUCCESS &&
check_hash(firmware, expected_hash) == MATCH) {
apply_update();
log_secure_event("OTA update applied");
} else {
rollback_to_previous();
trigger_secure_alert("Invalid firmware detected");
}


No trust? No update. Simple as that.

Lessons from Vendor Absences: Resilience in Supply Chains

When Legend and Peak Rarities packed up early, the room felt it. Tables emptied. Deals stalled. In automotive, that’s what happens when a cloud navigation service or V2X middleware provider goes dark.

We don’t panic. We plan for it. Here’s how:

• Fallback modes: Offline maps. Local voice recognition. So the car stays smart—even without a signal

<

• Microservices architecture: If the music app crashes, it doesn’t take down the whole infotainment stack

<

• Graceful degradation: Lose the cloud? No problem. The car falls back to radar and cameras for collision detection

It’s not about avoiding failure. It’s about designing for it.

Real-Time Decision-Making Under Uncertainty

At the show, I watched a guy spot two rare coins at different tables. He called dibs in under three seconds. In the car, we do the same—just with milliseconds on the line. A self-driving vehicle? It’s making life-or-death calls faster than you can say “1838 QE.”

Latency Is Everything

Infotainment and ADAS run on real-time operating systems (RTOS). There’s no “buffering” when the driver slams the brake. Delays cause crashes—literally.

That’s why we obsess over speed:

• The CAN bus delivers sensor data—like wheel speed or brake status—with microsecond precision
• Touchscreens must respond in under 100ms. Lag makes drivers furious (and distracted)
• OTA updates must be atomic and reversible—no half-baked installs that brick a car mid-drive

Here’s how we make sure critical messages get through first:


// CAN message prioritization (C++)
enum CAN_PRIORITY {
SAFETY_CRITICAL = 0, // e.g., ABS, Airbag
DRIVETRAIN = 1, // e.g., Engine RPM, Gear
INFOTAINMENT = 2, // e.g., Media, Navigation
DIAGNOSTIC = 3 // e.g., OBD-II
};

void send_can_message(CAN_PRIORITY prio, uint8_t* data) {
if (prio == SAFETY_CRITICAL) {
can_tx_queue.insert_front(data);
} else {
can_tx_queue.insert_back(data);
}
}


Safety-critical data jumps the line. Just like that collector who knew to grab the coin before the next guy.

IoT and the

Related Resources

You might also find these related articles helpful:

• From Coin Shows to Code: Building Smarter E-Discovery Platforms Inspired by the Great American Coin Show – The legal world is changing fast—especially in E-Discovery. I’ve spent years building legal software, and one truth keep…
• HIPAA Compliance in HealthTech: Secure EHR and Telemedicine Development Guide – Building software for healthcare? HIPAA compliance isn’t just a checkbox. It’s the bedrock of patient trust …
• How Sales Engineers Can Build High-Impact CRM Integrations for Niche Markets Like Coin Collecting – Let’s talk shop: A great sales team thrives on tools that actually *get* their world. For niche markets like coin collec…