Maybe I'm just weird (ok, yes, I'm weird) but I much prefer the coin as represented in the second pic.
I love trueviews I think especially on lustrous MS coins which is what I'm usually on the hunt for they do an incredible job and help me make buying decisions. That said on proof coins or prooflike coins like the top image it just does me no good and those are coins I need to see in hand. It would be nice if for proofs or prooflikes they'd shoot the coin in two ways one where you can see the color and the other where you can gauge the mirrors and/or cameo effect. I love the look of this coin btw, seeing both images I'd be comfortable buying this one from pics.
Good illustration (sorry! ) of how the same coin can look very different with different photographic techniques. There are several very low mintage coins for which I've been trying to determine how many unique coins exist. Mostly I use photographs from paper and online auction catalogs, but also photos from museums, books, dealer lists ... anything I can find. It's common to encounter pairs of photos that, at first glance, I would swear are of different coins. But with study, eventually decide they're identical. Different lighting can drastically alter the coloration of the coin. One trick in comparing photos is to eliminate varying colors by creating digital halftones or grayscales. Then compare them side by side. Another is to colorize the halftones or grayscales different colors (one green, one red, for example), make one semitransparent, and overlay it on the other. Cal
Really, don't need elaborate image analysis to verify they're pics of the same coin. On the obverse, the wavy light area to the left of Liberty's arm and the thin diagonal line at her feet tell the story. See the first two pics. However, grayscaling and brightness equalization and compression make the wavy light area more prominent. See the second pair of pics. Cal
I'm curious, John. How much value do you think the Trueviews add to a coin like this? It's got to be some tangible amount, right? No doubt that you'd have a wider audience when marketing the coin due to the glamour shots...