What's the best way to take a picture of a proof coin? I have one that I want to link to verify that it is an RPM (Tennessee and Ohio Quarter in my 2002 Proof set) and no matter what I do there seems to be to much glare. When I try to reduce the light it seems like there's not enough light. What methods have you used that produced get examples? Camera of choice is my Canon Rebel XSi 18-55mm IS Lens (also have 75-250mm IS lens) Unfortunately no macro lens or extension tubes Thanks Shrek
Proof coins are a REAL pain to image. What you didn't tell us is the location of your light with respect to the coin and the camera. How close? What angle (degrees up from the table)? What clock direction?
I was using a floor lamp (with 3 thirty watt bulbs) at different angles (from 90 to 45 degrees). Tried different variations of each light on/off. Same thing with the proof set, I placed it 45 to 90 degrees. Clock direction was normally 9 and 3 but sometimes 2 and 7 or 4 and 10 (roughly). ALso tried flash but that doesnt work to well. As for distance I was anywhere from 8 inches to about 2 feet (which was to far away).
Since you are only validating the RPM, why not try a scanner. The luster, etc will not show, but the RPM should be evident.
With proofs since they have mirror fields (and the refections from the case if they are still in it) it is important to diffuse the light sources to prevent glare. What you want is plenty of light but it needs to be coming from all sides rather than one or several individual points. Also a RPM on a 2002 proof coin is impossible. They put the S mintmark on the model used to make the master hub for proof back in 1985 so there is no chance of a RPM after 1984.
Here is a simple method to diffuse and dissapate the lighting. Place a white sheet on the ceiling or suspend from something over the area your working. Then place all lighting sources so they point upward. Naturally the more higher the wattages of the lamps, the more they will bounce the lighting around.
