Athens Owl: I'd buy it for the photo

Beyond exploring ancient coins & the history associated, I am slowly improving my ability to photograph the coins. CT members and posts have been a great source of advice - comments on the photos below are most appreciated. I am pretty sure, I would have been tempted to spend much more on this coin if it had been photographed better instead of being shown in the auction listing as a badly cropped slabbed coin.

At 17.21g and 25mm this Athenian Owl is quite a hefty lump. Not my usual area of interest, but recent prices have made these historic and iconic coins more accessible. This photo was taken with my "usual" setup - a low end USB microscope from Amazon.com.

Attica, Athens, circa 440-404 BC, AR tetradrachm
Obv: Head of Athena right, wearing crested Attic helmet ornamented with three laurel leaves and vine scroll
Rev: ΑΘΕ, owl standing right, head facing, olive sprig and crescent moon behind, all within an incuse square
Ref: I don't know enough to attribute more specifically - any comments are appreciated

I have been experimenting with another camera (Olympus Tough TG-6) which has macro and photo stacking features. Although connecting to a computer is not as convenient, it does offer a new perspective on a coin like this one:


Share photo advice, enticing coin photos, or anything else you find interesting or entertaining.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

The stacked image really showcases the relief! The coin-background interfaces looks rather artificial though. Did you have to hand-paint the background in a photo editor?

Last week I received some extremely black paint, Stuart Semple's Black 3.0... the blackest paint short of Vantablack, which isn't available to the public. I painted the dowel and shooting stand with it and the first attempts went very well. I didn't have to paint or darken the image backgrounds at all; they were fully black. I'll post some examples this weekend.

I used to shoot with an entry-level DSLR and macro lens but had better results and consistency with a Canon Powershot G16. Part of the reason for the failures with the DSLR was my impatience and failure to really learn how to use it but another reason was damage from high humidity and harsh environment. It's easier to protect the little Powershot. I shoot in manual mode.

My smartphone is having some issues and I'm considering a new one. This iPhone is a few generations old and I'm tempted by the latest greatest iPhone (11 Pro), primarily because of its fancy cameras. However, it is hideously expensive. I wonder if it would be as good or better than the Powershot?

 

Silver is the hardest for me to shoot. Maybe I should buy more silver coins and practice more? @Sulla80 that's a great looking coin. I think you can improve your image by attempting to get more light on the lower left obverse area.

 

Nice coin, @Sulla80 ! Athena has an interesting face. I like the three quarter view of the edge.

 

I understand that Vantablack is not available to the public. This is due to that it is actually made from a Black Hole. I am not so sure you would be a responsible person handling a Black Hole, @TIF ...

 

You’re right. I’d probably misplace it .

 

Sulla80, I love the 2nd photo showing the high relief of the coin . I think the 1st photo may have been more successful on a lighter background. Was the obverse side of the coin in the 1st photo laying flat or at an angle? The photos from TIF are some of the best I've seen & Doug Smith offers some good advice on photography at his website. I like to shoot silver coins on matte black paper with a simple Cannon EOS Rebel XS, like the photos below.



Sometimes if the object is too dark matte white paper is more suitable like the French silver medal below .

 

Thanks All, for comments and advice.

Yes, edited to remove the clip I used to angle the coin - will try angling the camera instead of coin next time. Look forward to seeing (or not seeing) the Stuart Semple

My first photo - the coin was as flat as the coin. Your first photo is perfect in my view! A fantastic Septimius CЄOYHPOC tetradrachm too.