Scanners and proof coins.

Can anyone who understands physics and light better than I explain why it is that mirror-like surfaces always show up black when a coin is scanned? The coin below has brilliant mirrored surface but shows as jet black. I much prefer to scan lower valued coins as it is much quicker. I reserve camera work for high valued ones. But this is annoying.

 

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Scanners are designed to avoid glare on glossy or semi-glossy surfaces. I imagine they angle their light source and image sensor in such a way that mirror-like ("specular") reflections don't get picked up, while matte ("diffuse") reflections do. And, of course, you can't get much more mirror-like than a proof field.

I doubt there's anything you can do to fix it, and I'm not sure you'd want to -- most people seem to like that look. It's not like someone will look at it and think, "wow, I want a coin with mirror-like fields, not black fields. This coin is obviously defective".

 

A scanner literally floods the coin in light causing the mirrored surfaces to all but disappear. You can achieve the same effect using a camera.

Chris

 

Most experienced collectors will recognize that coin as a proof based on the black background.
Unfortunately newbies won't know that.

 

That is actually what I was concerned about if I tried to sell it on a non-EBay auction site.

 

I wouldn't worry about that. 30 seconds on google will show countless proofs imagined in a way that shows they black like that

 

Face it! There are inexperienced collectors everywhere. If it really bothers you, should you want to sell it, then you can always take additional photos with a camera using a more traditional technique.

Chris

 

I kinda like the look it gives. Heck if they could mint coins like that, that would be pretty cool.

 

But that is exactly what I am trying to avoid. I plan on retiring in about 5 years and at that point I will try to sell a few surplus coins a week online for retirement spending money. That means that I have to start creating pictures like the one above now. Otherwise, at the rate I have time to create them, I will not have enough ready by then. So any extra time spent is time wasted.

 

Tenant to landlord: "I'm giving you my 5-years notice because that is how long it will take me to pack my things."

Chris