So, I am making an effort to become a better coin photographer. It is something I have been wanting to do for a long time, but just haven't even given it a try. Over the last few days, I have read and studied and practiced and already I can see a significant improvement in my photography skills. The main reason I wanted to do this, is because I wanted to share my collection with the members here. So, here is the first U.S. coin I have imaged. It is my 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent and it is raw. This coin was given to me by my father shortly after I graduated from dental school. I would love grade opinions and any opinions/recommendations on my photography is also appreciated. I am going to make an effort to post additional photographed U.S coins to this thread in an effort to keep them all contained here. I am also going to do a similar thread for my world coins (which are mostly German). Thread here: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/camarodmds-world-collection-photos-mostly-german.360107/ So, here is the 1909-S VDB:
Not to shabby but a trifle dark old friend. I'd 'brighten' it a bit in the post processing procedure........
Thanks. I did some post processing but it’s a darker coin. This is pretty accurate to how it looks in hand.
@green18, I went back and played with it a little. Looking at the coin in hand, the original photo was a bit dark so I lightened it a bit. I might have slightly overdone it...but this is pretty close:
Thanks. I have always put this in EF range myself. I really like this coin. I have floated the idea of having it slabbed but I don't really have a good reason to do so.
For me, copper on a white background seems to make them more eye appealing. Especially full red or toned varieties. Which is quite tricky factoring in the white balance in your settings and type of lighting. Meaning you'll need to switch to manual settings. But get it right and you'll have a winning shot.
OK. So I took a break with this as I was in the process of replacing my old Canon T3i with a modern full frame camera. I recently picked up a Canon EOS R and my new 100mm Macro Lens just came yesterday. So, I went back and re-imaged the 1909-S VDB and I think it came out much better and much truer to how it looks in hand. My dad bought this coin for me as a gift shortly after I graduated from dental school because he knew I had always wanted one. I really appreciate it...but part of me wishes we could have done that together. As many of you know (but he doesn't totally understand)...it's the little details that make you love a coin or make it bother you. White this coin is technically a XF...it's not the one I would have bought as I don't care for the look of it and think it's kinda ugly. I feel bad, but I almost feel like saving some more money, selling this coin and upgrading it. I feel bad as it was a gift, and I know he wouldn't care, but I just think it's ugly. Here's another interesting one. I am a huge fan of Washington Quarters and a few years back my mother-in-law was moving her mom into an assisted living facility and they were going through her stuff...downsizing and selling her house. She had a bunch of old coins she had saved and asked me to go through them (her brother's kids own a pawn shop and were digging through everything and she didn't trust them to give her an honest evaluation of the coins as they told her everything was just worth melt). I went through the coins...most of which were circulated 90% quarters and halves and some wheat cents. But, this one jumped out. A 1938-S Quarter with nice luster and wonderful original toning. I told her, this one was worth significantly more than melt...I gave her a ballpark value of $100 in part because I have a hard time telling high grade AU from MS but told her it could be worth a bit more. She told me to keep it as I was the only person in the family who appreciated coins. She said her mom would want me to have it. I don't see any obvious wear on it but must admit as much as I love these coins I find them very hard to tell a nice AU from an MS. Any grade opinions would be greatly appreciated. Also, @Skyman, what do you think?
Bright coins would look great in the holder. Darker coins require a light background to be shown off.
Pretty '38-S. Certainly looks MS to me. Three areas of particular interest to me: On the obverse under the L in LIBERTY is a small greenish spot, could either be PVC or toning; on the reverse by the U in UNITED, could be a very minor clip; finally, the big one for me, is, what is going on on the reverse in the wreath area from about 6 o'clock to about 8 o'clock on the periphery? There are two parallel lines that seem to have left some sort of impression. I don't know what they are... maybe a counting machine?
I went back and looked at that spot under the L after you mentioned it (as I hadn't noticed it) and I it's not PVC. In hand, it's totally flat and is actually toning of the same brown/gold color as the rest of it. When the light hits it just right at a certain angle you get the hint of green...but otherwise its not. I read your post on my phone after I had packed the coin away last night and was already climbing into bed so you had me all worried about it...haha. The other two concerns you mentioned are actually due to laziness on my part. The coin is housed in a black foam ringed airtite and I had a really hard time opening it so I didn't. So, the "die clip" you see is actually the foam ring slightly over the rim on that one spot and the roller marks are actually not on the coin. The top horizontal line you see is a scratch on the airtite and the line below it is the shadow from that scratch. So, I was basically being lazy there. From now on, I won't be.
Niiiiiiiiiiiice 38 S. I would be tempted to at least give it an acetone soak and a hot running water rinse.
Make sure the two lights you're using are the same color temperature. The luster bands look to be two different colors on the quarter.
Here is one I photographed today. I know it's a super common date, but I just love the toning on this one. I hope you guys like it...I think I did a good job capturing how it looks in hand. @Skyman, what do you think of this one...I know you love toned Washington's.
Actually...I won it in a contest here. It was a March Madness contest several years back. I got second place and @gbroke provided the price...a nicely toned 1964 (P) set.
Pretty '64. It looks like a nice coin to plug into your album. I realize this is a personal opinion, but one thing I might suggest is that you downsize your attached images a bit. When I click on the image and it blows up, I can see maybe one half of one side of a coin. I noticed this with the '38-S too. Obviously it allows a thorough view of a coin, but IMO it's too much for a venue like the boards. Keep the big one for your own files, and produce one that is roughly 1/2 the width and height for coin boards. That way we can see a full side at a time.
