I am still at it.....

The horse he made co councul: well of course the great Incitates

 

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Very nice coin, great photo and excellent editing! I like especially the details of the reverse.
The back of the elephant, on the top, seems a bit vague? Perhaps is due to the lighting, I don't know.

Here's my coin, with a bit of editing.

 

Good eye.....the back is all there, but it had alot of glare when positioning the lights....even diffused.....so, I ended up moving it to where the glare wasnt overpowering at that point (which killed the detail on his back). I have got to get a couple more lights, then I may be able to evenly light the coin, and use more diffuser to kill more glare.
One real issue I have is I use a black foam background, but when I light the coin up, theres alot of glare amidst the background which show up as white dots. This makes it difficult to completely delete that background, and I have to use the digital eraser for each point of light! ugh.
I think I am going to try and paint a piece of wood with chalkboard paint...which as a completely flat black.....might make my editing time less....we'll see.
Dont even try to talk about slabbed stuff! Very hard to hide the darn slab,

 

If you search back discussions of the matter you will find where TIF used expensive super black paint that reflects much less than your current foam. I still maintain that the best way is to prevent light from falling on the background. To this end, I use an inverted plastic flowerpot which surrounds the post on which the coin rests and shadows the foam at the bottom. This image shows it with an optional reflector that throws some light back on the edges of the coin. Since I am inclined to overkill, I have a stack of two pots which cuts down even more on light reaching the bottom and raises the coin position up to where I find it more convenient. It is better if there is a hole in the top only slightly larger than the coin. I have several plastic pieces with holes to use for that purpose. You then cut loosely around the coin and drop the halves on a plain black background. Using a ring light requires more care in selecting a hole size but directional light only allows a lot of leeway here. This is an old photo with my previous camera rig. I keep telling myself I need to reshoot.

 

I like the white ring idea....
Should kill the shadow around the coin. I'll play with a few things in the next few days....

 

NOOOO! You had "snake" there, don't change it back!!

@KeviniswhoIam and @tartanhill: that ain't no carnyx.

 

I kinda like the argument that Caesar had been fighting the Gauls whom used the Carnyx. I have a hard time truly understanding the Snake symbolism.

Every Caesar Elephant coin that I have seen had a head with other "frills", which are NOT on a normal snake. However, a Carnyx has a dragon style head.

I can just see the battlefields in Gaul. My hoards of Celtic Kinsmen with Carnyces blaring the deep bellows, blasting chaotic bleats and bellows across the battlefields, creating confusion, and hyping up the Warriors! Caesar eventually defeats them, and insults the Gauls by smashing and crushing the Carnyces, like a Elephant crushing them. I can get this interpretation as I make it up...

I am not opposed to either snake or carnyx, if I can truly be convinced of the symbolism.

In NO WAY am I an expert. Please feel free to totally refute!


RImp Albinus Bruti AR Den 48 BC Mars Carnyces Cr 450-1a

 

Been there, done that. The beard and crest are normal on "magical" snakes like genii. Here's my most recent such serpent:



That kind of snake is clearly what's depicted on the JC denarius. So there!

 

LOL, smart marketing! You even did a Monty Python, which you KNOW I like!

Dopey ole me! I forgot about your great post. I need to reread it.



[EDIT] Ok, I see your your points. I like Carnyx, but Caesar’s real issues were coming home to his enemies. That is why he wrote his commentaries, was constantly in communication with his buddies and spies in Rome when he was in Gaul, etc. I git it.

But I DO reserve the right to the Chinese Dragon(C) that the Elephant is trampling. In fact, I will take copyrights to it.

 

D'oh! Why didn't I see it before?! He was turning his eyes eastwards already and announcing that he would be taking over the silk trade!!