That looks pretty good. The only small complaint is the background that is able to be seen around the edges of the coin from the cropping. Other than that, I think the color and sharpness look great! I wish I could get mine to look that good.
That's 'cause ancient fellows worked with rocks and stone implements and had difficulty getting everything perfectly round.......
and a redo......worked on the coin crop a bit, as well as rotated the reverse a few degrees counterclockwise....
That's a pretty coin and a pretty picture. Better than much of what I produce... Yet, if I were you, I would probably turn up the aperture of your lens a bit if possible. Especially on the reverse, not all areas of the coin look equally sharp. May I ask what kind of photography set-up you are using?
Im using a sony a6100 with I am using a Sony a6100 with a Sony E3.5/30 macro lens on a tripod with LED lighting, then edited from RAW format. Editing in RAW format gives me a lot of latitude with luminosity and brightness. I always tend to make them too dark, so, this time I wanted it to be as close to "in hand" in color as I could get it. I did a lot of moving the light around, then r5otating images....some angles were better than others @dougsmit gave me the idea to do that.
I am a big fan of RAW but do warn that it is tempting to adjust some things just a bit too much and remove the naturalness you want in specular highlights. This makes the real coin look like a plaster cast. I believe your last example is a good balance. The coin looks like brightly shining silver but still shows detail. Sparkly coins are not easy to photograph well. Good job. I am not a real fan of 30mm macros since you have to get really close and beware of shadowing the coin. A macro 100mm is easier. You seem to have controlled this well, too. The a6100 seems to be a good tool for the purpose. I know nothing about Sony products since I have a lot tied up in Canon lenses. It is a good idea IMO to pick a brand and stay with it. They all have strengths and weaknesses and changing is expensive.
Because I offset the light slightly, the shadow wasn't an issue. I was about 6" away. Most of my lenses simply put me to far away....I have telephotos, but of course they aren't macros. This 30mm works the best for me so far. Rotating 90" and taking pictures helps as well...one can always rotate back in production....just pick the best one. I didn't want to over edit them, as doing so would make them look odd. I wanted them clear, and as close as possible to the "in hand" color. Proof coins would be a nightmare!
Generally, that's a pretty good shot. For my two cents, I think your highlights are too big and a little burned out. I know others will disagree. IMO, you need to soften the harshness of the highlights with diffusion. However, don't place it directly in front of the light. This is common error and placed as such, it won't really help you. You need to place the diffusion material somewhere between the light and the subject, in this case probably closer to the subject, to find the balance of high contrast refection and graduated highlight. Where exactly that is, you won't know without moving it around. In the image below the diffuser is about 6" away from the coin and the light is 18" away. Take from it what you will. Personally, I prefer the coin on a white background rather than a black one. Getting the correct exposure is also a challenge with highly reflective objects. You usually need to over expose bright subject because your camera's default is to make it middle grey. I've shot a number of these coins, and I know they are thick. I have an issue getting all the important stuff in focus, shooting at f14, so focus stack if you need to.
This is very true and is responsible for a couple of my photo habits. When I switched to my new mirrorless Canon RP I immediately fell in love with the setting that shows the exposure you will get on the image when you look through the finder or at the screen. Canon calls this 'Exposure Simulation'. The Sony a6100 is a good mirrorless so I suspect it would have a similar option buried in the menu but I have never touched a Sony so have no idea if or how. There is a fact of cameras. We tend to keep buying the same brand so we don't have to replace all our lenses when we get a new body. The Canon 70-200 I bought in 2006 is now serving on my fifth Canon body. For me to buy another brand now would be like buying a book in a language I do not read. I did not select my RP because of that feature but I am happy it is there for me. Shooting RAW allows a little more room for exposure error before the image falls apart but the more you can do to get it right in the first place, the better. I always shoot RAW and use manual exposure.
Thank you, @dougsmit and @Denis Richard for your helpful input on this......I am only starting out doing this, but your input isd quite helpful. I am going to have to redo some of my ancients, for sure, given your help! Currently I am cataloging my entire collection, which is mostly US Coins, and inputting them into a database.....this is taking pictures of obverses and reverses, etc, but for the cataloging I am just taking a picture of the set, like leaving a proof set in the US mint holder and taking a picture of the whole thing.....I am not going to such great length with these as I will with the ancients. It takes me hours, literally, to take the pics and edit the pictures of ancients, and I dont have the time currently (working 10-12 hour days at the moment).... Trust that I will redo my poor attempts though!
Now its TWO granddaughters! But alas, I have to blame myself.....my oldest granddaughter is almost 4, the other is 3 weeks old....so.....the fault is all mine!
