One thing I quickly learned when purchasing coins on the internet was to look at the background material the coin is placed on (if applicable) when the picture is taken. Usually it's plain bond paper which should be pure white, but as many of us have realized the end result (the pic) often isn't the case. Various tones of Grays, Light Blues, and Greens all are posted with the coin smack dab in the middle looking better than or worse than the photographer was hoping for. I've also noticed that many times the camera tends to capture colors and alas, dings which just aren't there when using the naked eye. FWIW, I'm really camera stupid, but am also constantly experimenting with my old trusty Sony Mavica FD-91. It was the standard to be judged against 9 or 10 years ago and ran $900+ with everything included. As we all know lighting is everything. I've found that when taking pics of worn silver ancients and old US silver, Natural Lighting (I just move the TV Tray close to the window ) is better than say a 100 Watt Incandesent bulb which seems best suited for dark copper issues/ancients and finally Neon which I usually use for MS coins and Gold. As you know when using natural lighting the time of day and cloudcover is always a factor. But back to the intent of my opening lines. I try to think what a coin would look like when I know what the background color of the material it's laying on is, and many times I've found beautifully toned coins arrive in the mail (usually BHDs) when the seller obviously has tried to 'ahem manipulate' the picture in some way. Sometimes the surprise is the other way around and I might end up returning the coin but rarely do since I'm a Bust Half Dollar variety collector and don't just collect for type coinage. Just something else to think about before you hit the Bid Button or the Buy It Now button. I hope this helps... Take Care Ben
I highly recommend a dark gray/black non-refective background with "white" light illumination. The dark gray/black background allows the reflected light from the coin to dominate. I use an ordinary piece of dark gray construction paper (like elementary school kids use in art class.) Couple that with the "white" light and you get an image that closely matches the coin in hand. My "white" light source is an Ott-Lite but there are less expensive options (sunlight being one if you can get close enough to a window.)
The natural light is the best indeed, and it should be a sunny day as well, not very good if it's too sunny. As a background, i usually just use my son's light brown desk - works as a charm - I found that pictures are getting a lot more better than on my white desk. I think it's related to light reflection, dispersion, and contrast Cheers, Mik
