I was organizing some of my old pics today and got the idea that I'd like to create a compilation of some of my colorful Morgan Dollars. I only have pics of six Morgans, so I'll have to go to the vault to get another 14 to image and include. I do have some more toners, but I think I'll have to get even better ones in the future, and revise this poster when I upgrade. So, this is what I first came up with - five rows of four coins, total of 20 coins. As you can see, I only show six different coins so far (1880-S, 1881-S, 1881-S Planchet Flaw, 1883-O, 1885-oops, there's a typo there, and 1902-O), and I just plugged in the 1881-S with Planchet Flaw into the other "holes" to see what the composition would look like, overall. I kinda like the idea of printing this out at maybe 20"x16" and framing it and hanging it in my home office. Thoughts? Don't worry about hurting my feelings, I'm a big boy! Let me have it if you think this stinks. But, don't just say, "It sucks." Let me know WHY it sucks, and WHAT you suggest I do differently. I'd like constructive criticism, not just criticism. Bad composition? Crappy photography? Too large? Too small? Do you have ideas for improvement? Should I insert one blast white Morgan, just for reference? If so, at the beginning? Middle? End? Should I group like colors together? Or, just put them in order by date, like I have it shown? Do any of you have compilations like this? Can you show me what you did? I'd love to see what you got! TIA for any advice!
Since you asked: 1-I would leave the grades off, just show the dates. Since you have graded and raw coins. 2- Leave your name off the print. 3- If having this printed by a vendor and they ask if these are yours, always reply I did this for a client. Other than that, I like it.
As I mentioned, I only have pics of 6 coins. So, for now I plugged in one coin just so I could see how the composition would look. I have to go get another 14 coins to image so I can get all of them into the composition.
Does anyone have some similar, or not so similar, kinds of compilations that they could share? I'd love to see examples of what people have done! It doesn't need to be Morgans, or even a poster type compilation. Just anything that pieces together a number of coins in a nice photographic display. @messydesk? @Denis Richard? @Justin Lee? @rmpsrpms? @robec? Anyone???
I don't do a lot of that kind of work. I've made several collages for online sales of preassembled coin collections. This was for a Canadian penny set. It's nothing special. If I may offer my humble opinion for yours, I can't really see the detail in the coins, but the photography seems OK. I like the arrangement of the coins you have; it is ideal. Excellent horizontal and vertical spacing, but overall, not entirely centered on the page. I don't think the black background is the best choice. I like the text for the coins, but I'd make it slightly smaller. And you need more space around the title. It's too crammed in. Give it room to breathe. The font is nice, but kern it a bit tighter. Just my opinions. I don't make you kind of collage (because no one has asked me for one) but I make custom coin displays like these in my studio. These are a few templates in progress.
@Denis Richard - Thanks for the advice! I'm always looking for ways to improve, so all the tips I get are taken as a learning lesson! I'll play with this some more. As for the pics: These were taken about 5 years ago, when I got my macro lens and first set up my copy stand. I have to go get the 20 coins I want to have on the poster and re-image them - hopefully even better this time. This was just a first effort, as I was thinking of creating something I could put on my office wall to look at for inspiration! BTW - I love the templates you did, there! Thanks again for the advice!
