Hello fellow coin junkies. I'm Very psyched about this. The store had this graded at AU50. What do you think? I apologize for the poor picture quality. Larry
Bully on your snag. Photo just a tad bit out of focus at the top. Make sure your lens is perpendicular to the the subject. 90 degrees........Do over.
Thanks for the feedback everyone. Green, I took the pic with a cel phone camera with a lens on it. I should work on lighting and shadows next. Does anyone else notice scratches on the reverse between the words "America" and "E Pluribus" ? Does this affect the grade? Sorry for the low quality shots. Do you guys think $165 is a fair price?
That area isn't in focus; too difficult to tell what those lines are or could be. Assuming the surfaces are original, I'd be pretty darn happy with that coin at $165.
I did not know that you need to have your camera at 90 degrees to take a good coin picture! Thanks for the knowledge!
Imaging 101: 1) Coin and camera perfectly parallel. Camera pointed straight down at the coin on a flat surface is by far the best arrangement. Depth of field is very small in coin photography, and for proper evaluation you need the whole face in focus. An easy way to arrange this is to place a small mirror where the coin will sit, and arrange the camera so that it "sees" its' lens exactly in the center of the frame. When you accomplish this, coin and lens will be square. 2) Solid camera mount. Allow no chance for shake to interfere with the image; this and the next step are designed to minimize the potential for shake. Don't hand hold the camera. A cheap tripod will do if you're unable to arrange a copystand - weight one end of a board and dangle the other end off the corner of a table if need be. That will provide a platform a tripod can hover directly over top of. 3) Remote or delayed shutter. Don't let your finger be what activates the shot; that will lead to shake. Pretty much every single camera is capable of shooting with a delayed shutter. 4) Shoot the largest sharp shot you can. It's a good thing if you have to downsize the image to post it online; downsizing itself tends to increase apparent sharpness. You gotta find out what your camera's minimum focusing distance is, and get as close to the coin as possible within both that limitation, and the limitation forced by lighting considerations, like.... 5)....keep lighting as close to vertical above the coin as possible. Best practice for evaluating coins is minimized shadows, and angled lighting interferes with clear presentation.
Thanks Dave. You gave me some good ideas. I have a cell phone camera attachable lens but with a couple adjustments I'll be shooting pro pics with it.
OK, with a smartphone all you basically gotta do is peek the lens over a stack of books on which the phone sits. Quick and dirty camera stand. A lot of phones will let you voice-activate the shutter and/or activate it with the Volume control on the earbuds. Worth looking into.
