Super macro - 'whatzits'

Every now and then I get an urge to try making photos with a very old microscope that I have had since college but it was vintage then. Looking at my latest results I see that this would be better done with focus stacking but that was more involved than I had time for last night so these are just very small parts of some coins from my collection. I once did this with nature subjects and my daughter liked to play a game trying to guess what was shown. 'Whatzits' can be fun if you are into such games.

These images are all from coins I have posted on CT more than once, All seem obvious to me but I know the answers. Anyone who wishes is invited to identify the coin or the part of the coin that is shown. I will point out that coins used for this purpose need to be dusted off better than I did. There is some dust here and there.

What is shown here?


What city issued this coin?


This coin was issued by the younger brother of the usurper. Who were they?


On this one the question is what is shown and what civilization issued the coin. Can you name the ruler?


This may the the hardest one but it shows enough to ID the specific issue of this Caesar. Whatzit?


Is this worth doing? I assume those who hated the idea did not read this far. What other subjects would be good to show this way?

 

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Neat.
I recognise 4 (the last 4) of the 5 instantly. The first one has me frowning and scratching my head and getting annoyed with myself.

 

Great close-ups, @dougsmit! That's a beautifully sand-encased Chi Rho! And I certainly recognize that last one from your post very recently about those numbers, but I won't say as to not ruin the guessing fun for others!

What other things? Countermarks are the first thing that come to mind for me (is that what your photo #2 is?). Here's a zoomed/cropped image example... No microscope here, so it's kind of fuzzy, and no where as close as yours, Doug.


(that first close-up is ptotally lost on me... Or is it? )

 

Very good! It is the year date from a Ptolemy II tetradrachm year 34 over 33.


#2 is not a countermark and from what is shown could this person or one of four other rulers from that same time. That is why I asked only for the city.

maridvnvm has too many interests that match mine so I expected him to get these. He'll get the ones from my second session, too.

What I found interesting about this one was the dots adding texture to the right side of the A and less clearly to the other letter. I hd never seen them before and am amazed that they are there. Now I need to see other coins of this type and see if they are there as well. I am wondering if this is a sign of an undertype rather than texture on letters???


The following two are related but not from the same coin. The first shows one type of what it shows while the other shows both the other type and a smaller unrelated item that is often confused with the larger. These have been discussed here before and also on my webpages. Macro photos are good for technical numismatic trivia.

This is on a reverse.


Clue: This is not the only nose on this obverse. All three of these are three image focus stacks but this last one really needed one closer and another farther to be sharpest.


I have been accused of causing other people to spend money on coins by showing things they did not know they wanted. In this case, I am encouraging you consider a microscope to look at little details on coins. These were taken with a very old single microscope in poor condition. For coins I really suggest the stereoscopic 'dissecting' type scopes instead. Some of them have a third tube allowing taking a 2D photo of the scene displayed in 3D by the other two eyepieces. These 'trinocular stereo microscopes ate considerably more expensive than the toys like my stereo binocular unit. I probably should look into showing how such scopes would make you safer from fakes but I do not believe that is true. Most signs of fakes can be seen with much lower magnification and what protects from fakes is more common sense than superpower vision.

 

Could the final one be a Constantine dynasty fallen horseman with LXXII in the left field, probably indicating that 72 coins were minted to a pound?

 

Very good. This is a Gallus but they com for Constantius II as well. The face left of the L belongs to the horseman.

 

Is that a wolf on #4?

 

#3 looks pretty...DecentThough I don't know if that response is Magnenimous

 

On the fourth could be a hippocampus colli parthicus ?

 

Is that last one Macrinus facing Diadumenian with a fun lil centering hole in the middle?

 

Can you show a picture of your microscope-and-photo set-up?

 

Number two is a particularly lovely coin, and from quite an amorous place (at least when looking at it from behind).

 

I removed the stage and condenser/mirror unit. The adjustable frame for the condenser is handy for making the small movements needed for focus stacking.

No to the people, yes to the hole but there is something next to the hole, too.

 

Is it a raised compass? Also, is the coin above it showing a rotated dimple? My eyes keep wanting to see it like it is raised but I think it goes inward...

 

Great view! But can you screw your camera onto your microscope? I have an old microscope (well, 1950) but I don't know how to take pictures through it.

 

Thanks for sharing the post and the fun ID quiz. Is it worth doing? I'll add a vote for "yes".

I have a small USB microscope that I use as a camera to look at and photograph coins. I don't usually go "super-macro" - but nice to have the option for fine details. I have not played with photostacking - do you have a favorite tool?


On how scopes would make you safer from fakes...I would think that detailed exploration of cracks, surfaces, and other fine details, add to a definitive diagnosis of "fake" even if it doesn't make you safer e.g.

I especially like your first dimple/pit photo - which looks like art to me.

 

I thought this thread was micro pics of coins? So why have you posted Rudolph and the back of Alicia keys head???

 

Alicia Keys' Grammy winning album Songs in A Minor was written in the same decade that my Julia Mamaea fake was minted in Bulgaria AND Roudolf's nose and antlers do look similar to the red nosed bucranium above

 

Well played, sir. Well played indeed! Haha

Though, now I want to see the whole coins.