And I say it's all right! I took a photo of this sestertius in full sunlight to bring out the patina: Faustina II, AD 147-175. Roman oricalchum sestertius, 22.36 gm, 33.7 mm, 12 h. Rome, AD 160. Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right. Rev: FECVND AVGVSTAE S C, (Faustina as) Fecunditas standing left, between two children (thought to represent Faustina III and Lucilla), holding two infants in her arms (thought to represent Commodus and Antoninus). Refs: RIC 1635; BMCRE 902-904; Cohen 96; Strack 1336; RCV 5273; MIR 10. So let the sunshine in! Let's see your coins you photographed in sunlight!
Olive patina for bronze, Always, if you can get it. Remembering how, when I got my first Marcus Aurelius, as a kid (an as; nothing to write home about, except that), my uncle characterized bronze as 'the noble metal.' And, Yes, @Roman Collector, your example is one of the finest I've ever seen.... Hmm. I wonder if that's why, for silver (including medieval), I like there to be plenty of toning, as "authentic" as possible. (Granted, as my uncle would say, that's effectively a one-word oxymoron. ...In any number of contexts.) ...Except, once you get this deep into the esthetics, metal is Supposed to age, and ancient metal is Supposed to Look it.
Actually, I photograph all my coins in bright sunlight. You can see the shadows cast by the posts that they are sitting on in my photos: http://feltemp.com/Emperors/Emperors_Page1.html http://feltemp.com/Constantine_1.html
Here's one: Herennia Etruscilla, (249-251 A.D.) Wife of Trajan Decius AE 28 of Viminacium, 14.2 grams Obverse: HER ETRVSCILLA AVG, draped bust right, in stephane Reverse: PMS COL VIM, female figure (Provincia Moesia) standing, facing left, between bull and lion, AN XII in exergue Reference: BMC 32
Goodness gracious! AMAZING coin in any light RC!!! And that patina I really like natural light for bronze. Am I the only one who has a harder time with silver in natural light?
What a smooth & beautiful glowing green! The sunlight really brought it out. All of my older images are sunlit, taken with an old iPhone. Here are a couple: