Heritage Pics vs. Actual, Not Always Accurate

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by Agilmore01, Jun 15, 2015.

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  1. Peter T Davis

    Peter T Davis Hammer at the Ready Moderator

    I think my biggest takeaway from this thread is that we have some people here who are very talented with a camera. But, I kinda knew that already. I think the guys at Heritage should spend more time, they might learn something. :D
     
    Peter T Davis, Jul 12, 2015
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  3. geekpryde

    geekpryde Husband and Father Moderator

    You've got a darn good eye. Nice coin, nice pics.
     
    geekpryde, Jul 12, 2015
    #22 + Quote Reply
  4. robec

    robec Junior Member

    From an Heritage auction in 2009

    [​IMG] [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
    robec, Jul 12, 2015
    #23 + Quote Reply
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  5. Scropper

    Scropper Member

    Some of these photographs are fantastic!

    I would say (playing devil's advocate for HA) that they are more concerned with consistency and speed than bringing out the absolute most beauty possible. These photographs that are being rightly showed off took at least minutes to set up and process to get them looking like the coin and bringing out the coins' true beauty.

    Lighting all coins properly takes variation and a great deal of time. For the big money coins, I'm sure they feel the buyers are either previewing the coins or having their agents do so.

    As they're processing thousands of coins at a time, they want to throw it under the camera, shoot it and process it quickly - they want to spend seconds on each photograph, not minutes.

    That said, given their take you'd think they would want to get the most out of their photographs! I'd imagine that the highest-end, signature coins do get special attention. But these beautiful coins shared here have been well-treated by their owners, to get beauty shots done up so well!
     
    Scropper, Jul 13, 2015
    #24 + Quote Reply
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  6. geekpryde

    geekpryde Husband and Father Moderator

    In my case, the HA aren't too bad, or maybe mine aren't that much better. ;)

    HA #1:

    1858 O 50C HALF DOLLAR - SEATED LIBERTY, NO MOTTO PCGS AU50 24007191 CAC Obv Slab HA.jpg

    Mine #1 :

    1858 O 50C HALF DOLLAR - SEATED LIBERTY, NO MOTTO PCGS AU50 24007191 CAC Obv Slab.jpg

    HA #2:

    1876 S 50C XF 40 PCGS 24808236 CAC Obv Slab HA.jpg

    Mine #2:

    1876 S 50C HALF DOLLAR - SEATED LIBERTY, MOTTO PCGS XF40 24808236 CAC Obv Slab.jpg



    BONUS:

    Here's GreatCollections pic of coin #1:

    1858 O 50C HALF DOLLAR - SEATED LIBERTY, NO MOTTO PCGS AU50 24007191 CAC Obv Slab GC.jpg
     
    geekpryde, Jul 13, 2015
    #25 + Quote Reply
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  7. geekpryde

    geekpryde Husband and Father Moderator

    Thanks for link!
     
    geekpryde, Jul 13, 2015
    #26 + Quote Reply
  8. Agilmore01

    Agilmore01 Well-Known Member

    I think the problem is more with proof coins, or coins with color. That's where I have seen a bigger difference. They aren't good at catching luster.
     
    Agilmore01, Jul 13, 2015
    #27 + Quote Reply
  9. GDJMSP

    GDJMSP Numismatist Moderator

    You cannot capture everything about a coin with a single picture, it simply can't be done. That's because even the tiniest change in angles changes what you get in the picture. The exact same thing happens when viewing a coin in hand, shift the coin, shift the light, even shift your eyes, the tiniest little bit and the look changes.

    I agree that Heritage pics can sometimes be lacking, but other times they can be quite good. Could they be better ? Sure, by better by whose definition ? Post 3 or 4 pictures of the same coin and ask folks which one they like better and you're going to get a whole lot of different answers and explanations as to why which one is better.

    And I think we also have to realize that when Heritage or any other auction house is having pics taken they are taking pictures of hundreds or even a couple thousand coins. So it becomes a money issue for them, and it can be a big one, to take multiple pics of each coin so they can find the best. And of course you have to think about who does the choosing to decide which is the best. It's the same with them as it is with us, ask 5 different people and you'll get 5 different answers.
     
    GDJMSP, Jul 13, 2015
    #28 + Quote Reply
  10. -jeffB

    -jeffB Greshams LEO Supporter

    Hm. Surprised we don't see more "Bad Picture Gamble" threads coming out of Heritage purchases. ;)
     
    -jeffB, Jul 13, 2015
    #29 + Quote Reply
  11. Agilmore01

    Agilmore01 Well-Known Member

    I purchased one coin from them that I was not able to duplicate the same look as in their picture no matter how I held it in my hand or what light I used. I was actually more pleased with how it turned out in hand than their picture they used. Somehow their lighting shows more of the toning in a darker light than it actually is. I think if they spent just a tad more time on the coins with toning and got the color correct they could make even more money off of these auctions.
     
    Agilmore01, Jul 13, 2015
    #30 + Quote Reply
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