Coin Photography: how do you take photos of coins with reflective surfaces?

Shooting mirrored coins: The image below was shot with a single light, positioned at 12 o'clock, a foot away from the coin and about 10 inches above the table. I used a single piece of 1/8" white acrylic, 12" x 12" square, and I tilted and moved the top edge of it around between the light and the coin until I found the level the shadow, and the highlight I wanted. You can see the gradation from the edge of the plastic in the text and the kangaroo shadow below.

same coin, side view- single light to the left- diffuser moved close to the light for high contrast.



Sometimes I'll shoot two images of a mirrored coin- one all black and the other all white, and do a manual gradation of the two images, like below. This was shot with dynamic axial lighting.

 

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I’ve tried axial lighting and never cared for the end results.
I’ve used lights where diffusion wasn’t necessary, but I’ve had much better results with small head, strong beamed LEDs with some sort of diffusion. I’ve tried shooting with lights high and aimed straight down on the coin and with the light more off to the side with the light head closer to a 45° angle. I’ve had success with both, but more so with the light at 45°.

 

Amazing photos, I need to up my game, maybe pull out my DSLR and get some better lights.

 

I’ve got to try the 45 degree setup. Mine is nearly axial but I am not getting the luster I want in some cases.