I don't have a lot, but some cool history in these coins: I need to get some better photos, these are off of my scanner. Maybe my scanner at work can do better. I notice some guys get some AWESOME pics of coins, any tips would be great Some day I would love to add a flowing hair liberty, Carolus IIII, as well as the older style Carolus III pillar dollar.
Take a look at this. I member here at CoinTalk, green18, wrote this and it has helped many, many folks. I really learned alot from this. :yes: http://www.cointalk.com/t175157/
Hey op, any tips of completing a similar set? I just finished a merc set and want to either do a set of dollars like yours or a set of half dollars.
For my set, I was not worried about gradable coins, which helps the wallet a lot The Silver Eagle, the peace dollar, and the morgan are all nice never cleaned and gradable. But the rest are problem coins that have either been cleaned, or were not gradable because of rim damage, etc. The Carlos III coin I got for a great deal (or at least I think so). It was from a reputable dealer on ebay, but he had a typo in the title of the add, so I think it was missed by a lot of people, and I bid at the last second and got it for under 80 shipped. I did as much research and testing as I could on my end and no red flags. For the collection I was not worried about if the coins were gradable, I just looked for authentic coins with good eye appeal. The bust dollar was certified genuine but non gradable by PCGS, but it has great eye appeal. The first thing I did was break it out of the slab. My intention with the collection was to have coins I was not scared to hold in my hand. I was young and dumb and lightly dipped the bust dollar, and then immediately regretted it. After that I handled it a bunch and let it set on my dresser and it has retoned nicely, but lesson learned. I really want a flowing hair, but man are they expensive!!! When i get some time I am going to try to get some better pics with a camera.
Here is the biggest single mistake folks make with a scanner; they use the entire glass as their scanning area (then crop away the extra space). Instead, you designate a space about 3x3 inches as your scanning area, set the scanner to 600dpi (1200dpi on a high-quality scanner) and get a much better result. Then you clean up the image a bit with brightness and contrast controls, etc. Most shots with a camera are either too dark or overexposed by glare. I agree, the best results come with a camera, but it requires vastly more knowledge and experience, plus a lot of fiddling with the camera controls. For most purposes, I'd rather have a lesser-quality picture and be done in 30 seconds.
To Tom B, the most suspect is the 1849; I have never seen a Seated Liberty with a boardwalk rim like that.
which ones (other then seated liberty), i will get better pics so u can inspect them. tell me any red flag u see please.
Any Deated dollar and later is cool . Nice collection .To get better pics even a relatively cheap point ang shoot with macro can take some darn good pics , I've seen point and shoots take better pics that $2000 set ups , it's all in the knowing . Gobroke has taken some great pics of colorfully toned coins with a point and shoot and keeps getting better .