Your pictures are okay... but some areas are lit and some areas aren't, your coins look clean but the pictures aren't good enough to determine grade with certainty. The dark spots probably hide some marks, and they don't show the true luster of the coin. Keep working on it, try using two or three lighting sources, and set the white balance accordingly. Your coins look nice, btw.
You need to brighten your monitor, T$. Those look like pretty good pix to me. 43- 65 maybe even 66. That looks like it is in an NNC holder, so I hope nothing has been done to clean/alter it. 37- 64/65
Well now I'm blind from the monitor being too bright. I set it to as bright as it could possibly go. They do look better, but there could possibly still be some things hiding, not the greatest pics, but they are alright. RLM, I guess I'm going to take your word and go with your grades. lol
AU/BU with exception the 43 cent possibly cleaned? original BU 43 cents usually have dull grey/white finish. overall very nice coins , grade at least au , can't tell if bu unless see actual color the coins.
also notice ...the 43 in looking carefully at the 43 cent, it appears the obverse is cleaned with small trace of white/grey patina remaining / the reverse looks untouched, has nice dull white/grey patina remaining.
thanks for the comments any tips on taking better pics? all I have is a Canon powershot SD750 point and shoot and I put it on digital macro
Get in closer, fill the frame with the coin. Crop your pictures and reduced size to get around 90-100k using editing software. You have a nice camera, just a little tweeking and your pics will be even better.
I never had a chance to take anymore pics this weekend, maybe next weekend. The 37 is in a NGC MS67RD holder and the 43 is in a MS68 (not one of the big 3, can't remember the name maybe NNC) holder. Do you think it would be worth a switch on the 43? I know it won't get a 68.
On the 37, are the marks on Abe's face on the coin or the slab? The steelie is a 65, the 37 depends on the marks. If most of the marks are on the slab then 64. If on the coin, 63.
Now that I have seen how to read your pictures, it would not amaze me that the 43 could get a nice grade, but the odds are that you would not pay for getting it slabbed. It will probably cost you $30+ to get it slabbed, and if NGC gives it a 67 (real nice), it would be worth about $60. A more likely 66 goes about $25-$30 and you lose. Unless you have someone look at it in hand, I would recommend against it.
Using picture it's virtually impossible to accurately grade above 65/66. Once you factor in hits/spots, most of the grade comes from luster and eye-appeal at the higher levels. You can't tilt and rotate a picture under light to figure out the true grade. LOL
Speaking of such, Have you seen numiscent's new movies? They are not up to seeing it in hand, but they manage to show you the luster. When you combine it with his pictures, you are getting a pretty good idea about teh coin.