If you are going to sell a raw, valuable coin on Ebay: SELL IT LIKE THIS.

WHAT NOT TO DO: Do not just put the coin on a table and take a picture. this will not make buyers buy your coin.
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SELL IT LIKE THIS: buy a case or capsule, put the coin in it, have great lighting while taking pictures. Putting the coin in a case will make people know that your not just touching the coin and getting fingerprints all over it and they will buy it.

 

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THIS IS NOT HOW YOU TAKE A PICTURE:

 

THIS IS HOW YOU TAKE A PICTURE:

 

It's even better if you show the entire coin.

 

I couldn't because I was using a microscope.

 

What kind of microscope?

 

an Elikliv model EDM4C

 

quarters are to big to get the whole coin!

 

Sometimes it's just better to use the camera (or phone) without a microscope.

 

If by sometimes you mean 99% of the time, I agree.

 

Sorry but I'm not buying from your second image either. You need to show the whole coin under lighting that doesn't wash out the surfaces. I agree that there are many pathetic images on ebay.

 

I don't sell coins on Ebay so it doesn't apply. When I did I used scans.

 

Yes, agree. I always ask people to show us the whole coin, obverse and reverse. No exceptions.

 

Try elevating your scope with a stack of CDs or a small wooden box. About 5 inches allows me to get full pics of Morgans and Peace $ with mine.

 

Having clear images is the most important thing. Use more than one lamp. Most scopes will not get the quality of images you need. Phones work great as long as you can transfer them to the listing. I prefer to use a DSLR camera and save the images to my desktop.

 

I tend to agree. Lighting that is near-perpendicular to the coin's surface will bring out more detail, especially on low-relief coins, but it will also wash out color and make it hard to judge "in hand" appearance.
For example, I prefer my own photo of this coin, which shows off the toning more, exhibits more color, and gives a truer sense of how the coin looks in hand, to NGC's bright high-contrast photo: