Every coin photographer has a wish list, but not cameras. Coins to photograph. The coin below is on my wish list: In 1937, the Royal Mint struck a select, experimental few four-coin gold sets with a matte finish specifically for pre-production photography. Brilliant, mirror-like proof coins caused severe glare under late-1930s flash photography, prompting the mint to sandblast these ultra-rare sets to capture clear images for sales catalogs. That's something I'd love to shoot, or even just see. The images presented here are from Heritage Auctions/CoinWeek. The ANA World's Fair of Money is one of the few places where something like this might actually appear. This August 24-29, will be my first ANA appearance as an exhibitor, and I'm looking forward to photographing coins on-site throughout the convention from Booth 323. More than anything, I'm looking forward to the conversations. The stories behind the collections. The unexpected discoveries. The chance to meet the people who make this hobby so fascinating. What's on your wish list? If you'll be in Pittsburgh, please stop by and say hello.
Interesting. Canada also issued specimen sets in 1937 that are designated as "matte." I've never seen where it was done for photography though.
It was a surprise to me. I'm writing the evolution of numismatic photography, and that came up in my research. But I didn't know about a Canadian matte version or if it was made for the same reasons. Now I have to look into that. Thanks for the comment.
I thought that there was only one Matte Proof 1937 gold set which was given to the king. I put the brilliant set together a few years ago.
I have the 1902 Matte Proof set with the gold. They are not nice coins. There is not much difference between them and Mint State business strikes. The same might be true for the 1937 sets.
