What does a coin “in hand” look like?

100 likes! Succinct, clear, and spot on.

Part (merely a portion; not all; just one single part) of my desire for a listing image to accurately reflect what a coin looks like "in hand" pertains to color. I have purchased over 1000 coins online in the past 15 years. (Not group lots. Just individual, one-at-a-time coin purchases.) Upon arrival, when the coin is then "in (my) hand", the coin is often a different color than the listing image. Sometimes a slight difference. Sometimes a complete different hue.

As just one example: Below are two images of the same coin which I purchased. One image is the actual listing picture. The other image is the result of my own photography in which I endeavored (and succeeded) to VERY closely match the actual patina coloration. It doesn't matter which image is which. The point is that one image accurately corresponds to reality, and one image does not -- yet the two indicate significantly different hues (only one of which is how the coin truly looks "in hand").

 

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https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MnwVrvc8XnCjUW_kV0p0pOEC_Fqn-hVj/view?usp=drivesdk

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MnwVrvc8XnCjUW_kV0p0pOEC_Fqn-hVj/view?usp=drivesdk

 

pictures can be deceptive. "in hand" just means to the eye it will appear better than the pictures represent it to look.

 

Ah, but sometimes "in hand" a coin looks worse than the picture represents it. As you say, "pictures can be deceptive". That deception can be a 2-sided coin. (Pun intended.)

 

Generally, when I post images of a coin and comment that it looks different in hand, it is because the photos don't adequately depict the luster (very hard to do in static images, especially with toned coins) or the photos over emphasize a minor defect that is exaggerated by the lighting. Photos are always an approximation of how the coin looks "in hand," but some are closer approximations than others.

 

IMO a good coin photo won't depict luster. It shouldn't. Luster is glare from reflection and where you see luster in a photo, you're not seeing the coin beneath the glare. Granted, you may want to know your coin is highly reflective. That's fine. A luster band is an indication of the coins reflectivity but unfortunately, it also masks how a coin actually looks. IME when I want to look at a lustrous coin in hand, I turn it side to side to move the glare away from my eye, or change the light source to remove it completely so I can actually see the coin. For me, that's what a good coin already photograph does.

I've always felt "In hand" images are an approximation of how the coin actually looks. Honestly, a coin only has one look. That's it. It is was it is. A coin has a finite texture, reflectivity and tonal range and if captured properly, in colour correct light, you can know and photograph preciously what a coin looks like. Whereas, an "in hand" viewing has as many variables and different "looks" as there are people viewing it. As Publius2 stated earlier this thread, "I would hazard that pretty much everybody understands what is meant by the term (in hand) and everybody buys into the ambiguity and imprecision."

 

Any image taken with a camera are just one view of what the coin looks like at that angle, under that lighting. Change the angle of the coin to the lens or the angle of the lighting and you have a second view of the coin. No single image can show everything that a collector want's to see. Coins don't just have one look.

 

IMO, "in hand" could also refers to other characteristics than the visual ones; for instance the shape, the contact with the hand and the density of the coin ( you cannot really appreciate that with a mere picture )
Was just my 2 cents on this interesting question !

 

Well I have tried numerous methods to get a good picture of my coins and they all turned out lousy. So I do hold them in my hand and snap numerous pictures with my iPad concentrating on a particular angle or segment. Then I review and edit and quite often reshoot.
I figure what I come out with must be fairly good because everybody has NO difficulty picking my coins apart and sending me back with my tail between my legs! (LOL!)

 

So what’s the difference
Hand on surface I don’t have a proper studio but I can make one using phone and other tools like this one with my homemade studio (picture above is without homemade studio but the one below is: )

3 cent nickel (for me, tri-cent nickel or 60% of a nickel) #1 by Goldsayshi463 posted Aug 11, 2020 at 10:25 PM