I finally got around to taking a good look at my boot strap die break error. I used one of the scanning electron microscopes (SEM) at my work to photograph it. I haven't ever seen an SEM image of this error so this may be a first. Let me know what you think.
Glad you guys like them. You are the first people beside myself to ever see them. I just took those shots a few hours ago and haven't even shown them to the people I work with.
I am sure there are a few folks on here that would appreciate those pics, Definitely out of my league though.
Totally amazing. Imagine if these kind of photos accompanied ebay listings? Or if the TPG's started to use these? What a sea change for numismatics.
Considering that you own the equipment, have you ever considered doing coin photography as a sideline? I don't think Ken Potter or John Wexler owns one of these.
Question for you...This coin shown, a 1983D Lincoln Cent, struck on brass Planchet as certified by NGC is within it's weight tolerance. Is your machine capable of determining the composition of this coin without taking it out of it's holder? I am certain a lot of inquiring minds would like to know if this has been struck on a foreign Planchet as opposed to a U.S. Planchet. It would mean the difference of a value from several hundred dollars if on a foreign Planchet or up to $15,000.00 if stuck on a U.S. Planchet. The story of this coin is in Numismatic News. You may be the one person who could solve this mystery and save some future owner a lot of money.
Most new members post photos showing what is barely identifiable as a coin, and then this guy shows up using an electron microscope? Talk about extremes.... Bravo, sir; bravo!
The coin must be out of its holder to image it and to do elemental composition work (Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy, aka EDS). Other than that it is a non-destructive analysis. But the electron beam has to come in contact with the coin to work, otherwise it just detects what the holder is made out of. What would work for analyzing a coin in a holder is a handheld X-ray fluorescent (XRF) analyzer. I have a friend that uses one for field geology work. You don't get any images but you get accurate compositions from magnesium up to Uranium in seconds. That is probably what NGC uses or should use.
XRF technology can detect through slabs. I've watched it done. It would be unreasonable to think NGC didn't XRF this coin while in their possession; how do you think they determined the composition?
Good question. Macroscopic general refers to things large enough to be examined by the naked eye and microscopic is when you need a microscope to examine it. So while you can certainly see this defect with the naked eye so it is kind of macroscopic but you certainly can't see the detail that these images bring out with the naked eye so I would call even the 35x image a microscopic image. Certainly the higher mag images are microscopic. Another term that would apply is electron micrograph. Although I usually just call them SEM images.
I just thought of that and edited it into my answer above and then after posting it notice that you had just said it. Yes I agree XRF is likely what NGC uses.