A good coin photo makes all the difference

My earlier thread about the 140X bid Morgan Dollar got me to thinking about the quality of coin photos that coin dealers and auctioneers use. I collect rainbow toned coins and the quality of the photo is of supreme importance, yet I find dealer after dealer with absolutely terrible photos on their websites. The large auction houses are just as bad. Although the quality of Heritage's photo's have improved over the last two years, they still are far from good IMO.

Has anyone ever purchased or won a coin at auction that absolutely blew them away when the received the coin in the mail. If you have, here is your chance to show your good fortune to the rest of the numismatic community.

Please post a coin that looks much better than the seller's photo. Post both the seller's photo and your own to show the comparison and share any other comments about the coin transaction.

I will start with a coin that was recently auctioned by Anaconda Rare Coins in the Heritage Signature Sale. The coin is a Morgan Dollar 1887 NGC MS65 with textile toning. I have always wanted a textile toned Morgan and this one seemed pretty cheap even though it was a little ugly with the army green toning. I placed a bid of 2X wholesale and won the coin. Imagine my surprise when I opened the envelope and the most beautiful vibrant powder blue textile toned Morgan appeared in front of me. I ran to my computer and compared it with the photo and broke out into uncontrollable laughter. A good coin photo makes all the difference.

 

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laughing is not the emotion i would be going through if it happened to me

 

okay, how about: which was which?
Left from auction or the real one?

 

Did you guys read the description. When I bid I thought is was army green (right-Heritage), and when I got it I found bright powder blue (left=my photos).

 

Recently, I bid on a collection of BU silver roosevelts. Some were toned. I lost, but if I had bid slightly higher, I most likely would have won. I would've if I had the money. The melt value alone, including the album they were in, was about $75.

The pictures were terrible and keeping the value down. It went for only 102.50 :/

And yeah, it was all dates, including the 49's and stuff.

 

Excuse my ignorance, but what on earth is that?

 

WOWsers on that morgan!!!

 

Good example but I am thinking the same thing, what is that, tell us please.

 

I agree.

It's hard to believe that is the same coin. That's amazing.

 

i see another coin you bought for me but forget to send me :hammer:

 

Here is another one from my archives, another Morgan Dollar 1880-S NGC MS66* (one of the quadruplets).





A good photo makes all the difference!

 

Wow, that's amazing for it to look that nice.

 

EMERALD GREEN YES, LIME GREEN YES, ARMY GREEN NO WAY. The Heritage photo made the toning look drab and lifeless. The actual coin is vivid and vibrant. Remember, I got the coin at auction for less than 2X bid. If this was one of the rare green toned Morgans, I would not have won the coin. In fact, I bid based on the textile pattern in spite of the toning. I would not sell this coin for less than 5X bid now.

I agree with you about the green toned Morgans, I just don't agree that my coin is one of them. The green monsters like this (not mine) are a little harder to come by and just a tad (10X) more expensive.

 

I'd have passed on the 1583 Rose Noble because I would have thought it a fake and wouldn't have looked closely enough to have discovered it wasn't. WHAT a difference!

 

Are the green toned coins more rare? I assume since they carry a premium they must be (supply and demand like anything else). What environmental reason is there for a Morgan to tone green rather than blue? Is it simply a random occurrence or is there a known environmental component?

 

This is a rather difficult question to answer. On a rainbow toned coin, a band of green is rather common. However, a mono chromatically green toned Morgan is very rare. Green is one of the last colors in the progression and the entire surface of the coin must stay in contact with the canvas bag for a very long time under the right atmospheric conditions. Not long enough and you get yellow or blue. Too long and you get violet and black. The photo below is crude demonstration of the color progression. The top 2 have not progressed enough and are yellow and light blue. The middle 2 are green but not the shade of green that brings huge premiums (emerald green). The bottom 2 show emerald green that has advanced too far and started to to turn dark with violet and black appearing.



I personally don't own a monster toned emerald green Morgan Dollar. I probably will one day, but they are very expensive and not always the most attractive.

Additionally, green is a color that is the most difficult for coin doctors to create via artificial toning or so I read somewhere. I don't know the science behind that last statement, but I believe it.