Your best coin photograph..

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Clavdivs, Oct 17, 2020.

  1. green18

    green18 Unknown member Sweet on Commemorative Coins Supporter

    Can't make old dogs lie down, eh Doug? Keep striving........
     
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  3. LaCointessa

    LaCointessa Well-Known Member

    The photographs taken with a camera are superior -- no doubt about it.

    I need an easy and fast way to document the progress of cleaning coins at many different points in the process which does not heavily rely on my unfortunately continuously and rapidly declining vision. The scanner doesn't care if it is night or day or whether there is light or not. I can enlarge the image immediately after scanning and make it as large as I need to see it. For me, discovering I can use this flat bed scanner was a great blessing even if the images are not professional looking like those posted in this thread. I'm just needing to make a record of what progress has been made in cleaning a coin since the last time I worked on it.

    (I did not want anyone to think that I thought the scans I posted were equal to photographs).
     
  4. sand

    sand Well-Known Member

    I'm sorry to hear about your vision. Has the cause of your vision problem, been diagnosed?
     
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  5. gsimonel

    gsimonel Well-Known Member

    Sorry. My mistake. I must have confused you with someone else.

    I'm pretty sure the Yahoo groups are long defunct.
     
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  6. akeady

    akeady Well-Known Member

    Yahoo has indeed dropped groups, but some have moved to groups.io - CFDL, Moneta and AncientPeddler live on, but with much reduced traffic compared to the active days of 15+ years ago. I'm not sure if UAC or UncleanedCoins made the jump or just disappeared.

    ATB,
    Aidan.
     
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  7. LaCointessa

    LaCointessa Well-Known Member

    Thanks @sand, and yes - (cataracts) - but I do not want to take the so called 'cure,' the results of which almost everyone I know who has undergone it eventually is unhappy about. Seems to me someone could come up with some drops that dissolves these things? (I sure wish someone would get to work on that.)
     
  8. LaCointessa

    LaCointessa Well-Known Member

    Interesting :-D @akeady

    @gsimonel - No problem! Glad no one is running or traipsing around as me! ^.^
     
  9. Marsyas Mike

    Marsyas Mike Well-Known Member

    I am sorry to hear about your vision problems.

    But to share a happy story about cataracts - my mother, age 80, just had hers removed and to her happy surprise, she now has 20/20 vision (she's worn glasses since about 1948). Her doctor said this happens sometimes, although usually not so dramatically. These surgeries just happened about a month ago, so I cannot report on the long-term effects, but my dad (age 82 now) had his out a couple years ago and he is fine (but still has to wear glasses).

    Best of luck to you with this. Just found out this spring during an eye exam that I too have 'em, although they are just starting...so I too am hoping for those drops! :(
     
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  10. LaCointessa

    LaCointessa Well-Known Member

    Hi @Marsyas Mike - I'll be 70 soonish.

    (Sorry to hear that you are also forming those cataracts. Mine were just starting about 10 years ago and I began to wear good sunglasses after that).

    Yes. I see lots of people who had the surgery wearing glasses. Why would that be necessary if the surgery corrects the problem? I suppose it has to do with the continued loosening of the muscles in the eye as we age after the surgery. I think some eye muscle exercises should be recommended. In fact, maybe in elementary schools and earlier, students should be taken through an eye muscle routine right after the pledge of allegiance. (Do they even say that anymore). Such exercises might upset the whole eyecare industry.

    I think another thing that causes me doubt in the efficacy of the procedure is that I only learned through my own investigation of the surgical process that they make vision in one eye for far sight and the other eye for near sight. Why wouldn't that be explained to me before the rush to set my appointment for surgery? I don't like the idea of that very much for some reason.

    Anyhow, I'm thinking there MUST be a substance G-d put on this earth (maybe in some rain forest) which can dissolve (or a tincture of which can dissolve) these things. I hope we did not cut down those trees yet
     
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  11. svessien

    svessien Senior Member

    My photos are generally not very interesting; auction photo type shots that range from «meh» to «decent». Those that are on the decent side are shots where lighting and camera adjestments work well together, where color or lustre comes across well, while there is as little over/underexposing as possible. I was lucky with this one:

    Japan 1964 1000 yen .jpg

    With ancient silver coins, high contrast between dark patina and un-patinated spots can be challenging. This is one of those coins, and I ended up satisfied with the pic in the end:

    Valentinian I Siliqua 2.jpg

    The only photo I have taken of a coin which I thought was pretty good, was this one though. Perhaps the reason is that it’s a great coin design, and a beautiful toning. I ended up giving the sower away to a US friend who was a much better photographer than me.

    The Sower.jpg
     
    Last edited: Jul 23, 2021
  12. sand

    sand Well-Known Member

    Hello @LaCointessa. I hope that, you will read all of this post, even though it is long, because it contains a lot of information, relevant to you. I'm not an eye doctor, but I learned a lot, because of a recent experience with my mother. However, my knowledge is limited, and perhaps flawed, because I'm not an eye doctor, so please take everything I say, with a grain of salt. I wrote all of this down, from my memory, except for a couple of sentences, about secondary cataract, which I copied from my notes. I hope I didn't make any mistakes. I wish I had time, to proofread it. If anyone sees any errors, in what I wrote down, please let me know.

    First of all, be sure, to get your eyes tested, for glaucoma, which is a very common ailment, which causes the pressure in the eyes to be too high, causing damage to the (retina I think). You may already know this, but I'll mention it anyway. Glaucoma is an insidious disease, because usually people don't know they have it, until damage has already been done. Every time I go to an optometrist, to get tested for new eyeglasses, they test for glaucoma. One treatment for glaucoma, is eye drops. Luckily, they caught my mother's glaucoma early, and she has used eye drops for many years. My aunt's husband was not so lucky. The other treatment for glaucoma is surgery, which they often wait to do, until someone needs cataract surgery.

    Regarding cataracts, my mother recently had cataract surgery in 1 eye. She was going to get cataract surgery in the other eye, but they said her blood pressure was too low that day, and then the pandemic happened. The doctor also fixed her glaucoma in the eye, using ab interno canaloplasty (ABiC), which cleans out a particular canal, to allow the eye fluid to drain better, without the use of a bleb. So far, it seems to have worked well.

    What they do, with cataract surgery, is they removed the old, natural lens in the eye, and install an artificial lens in the eye. The natural lens is flexible, especially when someone is young, which allows the muscles of the eye to adjust the shape of the lens, to focus on objects which are close to the eye.

    As people get older, the lens gets harder, and the eye muscles become weaker, which reduces the ability of the eye to change its focal distance. The focal distance becomes increasingly "frozen" at a particular distance, usually far away. This is why older persons usually need reading glasses, to see objects close to them. But they may need distance eyeglasses also, to see objects, which are beyond their narrowed focal range. However, older persons usually still have some ability to change their focal distance.

    Until recently, for cataract surgery, the new, artificial lens was always a hard lens. This meant, that the focal distance was completely frozen, at a particular distance. The focal distance depends on the shape of the new, hard, artificial lens. Before the cataract surgery, they measure the shape of the eye, and then select the shape of the new, hard artificial lens. The patient decides, whether the patient wants their vision to be frozen at infinity (far sighted), or whether the patient wants their vision to frozen up close (near sighted). Most patients choose infinity, so that the patient can drive a car with no eyeglasses. For the infinity option, the patient doesn't need eyeglasses, except for seeing things that are close to them. I don't remember what that exact distance is, at which eyeglasses are needed. However, some patients choose to have one eye nearsighted, and the other eye farsighted. That's what you were talking about. That may be a good option, but I don't know.

    However, recently, there have been developed, artificial lenses, which are flexible. Unfortunately, as far as I know, these flexible artificial lenses are not well established. Also, as far as I know, these flexible artificial lenses can cause problems for some patients, especially glaucoma patients. My mother's ophthalmologist, strongly recommended against a flexible artificial lens for my mother, because of my mother's glaucoma. Therefore, my mother got the usual hard artificial lens, focused at infinity. Also, I think maybe Medicare doesn't pay for the fancy flexible artificial lenses. Also, the flexible artificial lenses, are not simply squishy lenses, if I remember correctly. The flexible artificial lenses are complicated mechanical devices, with levers or something. Therefore, I'm a bit wary of them.

    One important thing about cataract surgery, is that, quite often, some time after the surgery (a few weeks? I don't remember), the patient develops a "secondary cataract". This happens when the back of the lens capsule, the part of the lens that wasn't removed during surgery and that now supports the lens implant, becomes cloudy and impairs your vision. They test for that, some time (a few weeks? I don't remember) after the cataract surgery. Secondary cataract is treated with a painless, five-minute outpatient procedure called yttrium-aluminum-garnet (YAG) laser capsulotomy. In YAG laser capsulotomy, a laser beam is used to make a small opening in the clouded capsule to provide a clear path through which the light can pass.

    For 2 weeks after cataract surgery, you have to wear goggles or something, when you sleep, to ensure that you don't touch the eye, when you are asleep. When my mother had her eye done, I remember being very worried about this, because my mother sometimes falls asleep without planning to. I bought several different pairs of goggles for her, to try to ensure, that she wore them.

    When my mother gets her other eye done, I don't know, if she'll choose a nearsighted artificial lens, or a farsighted artificial lens. She was initially unhappy with the cataract/glaucoma surgery, because the eye felt irritated at first. It also affected her near vision, of course, especially because they treated her more nearsighted eye. I tried to explain to her, before the surgery, that she would need reading eyeglasses, but I don't think she really understood. But now, she seems ready to get the other eye done. Her distance vision seems to be very good, even with just one eye fixed. However, she hasn't yet gotten the other eye done, so we'll see, if she decides to do it. My father only ever got 1 eye done, and he never got the other eye done. I'm not sure why. Maybe he wanted to hedge his bets.

    Well, there you go. I hope I wrote all of this down correctly. I hope I didn't make any mistakes. I wish I had time, to proofread it. If anyone sees any errors, in what I wrote down, please let me know. If you have any questions, please let me know, and I'll try to answer, with my limited knowledge. If I make any corrections, or if I think of anything that I left out, I'll try to put the corrections and additions, not only to this post (while I am allowed, by the 2 hour time limit, to do so), but also in additional posts.
     
    Last edited: Jul 23, 2021
  13. sand

    sand Well-Known Member

    P.S. : My uncle had glaucoma surgery, with a "bleb", and has had problems with it. Therefore, perhaps the ABiC surgery (see my previous post # 71 above), may be better. It is relatively new, and not all ophthalmologists know how to do it. My Mom got it, and so far, she seems to be doing well. She has Medicare, and a Medicare supplement. It may depend on the skill and knowledge, of the ophthalmologist. So be sure to look at internet reviews, of the ophthalmologist, using Google Map reviews, or something like that.
     
    Last edited: Jul 23, 2021
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  14. Andrew McCabe

    Andrew McCabe Well-Known Member

    This is my most popular coin photo PSX_20210723_171550.jpg

    Context (1987)

    PSX_20210723_171824.jpg
     
  15. LaCointessa

    LaCointessa Well-Known Member

    Thank you @sand for doing this. I am about to print it out so I can take time and read it carefully over the weekend. I'll give you my feedback thereafter. Again, I sincerely appreciate your effort!
     
    Last edited: Jul 23, 2021
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  16. LaCointessa

    LaCointessa Well-Known Member

    Printing this one, too...also... as well @sand :-D
     
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  17. Curtisimo

    Curtisimo the Great(ish)

    Since this thread got resurrected and looks like it might have some steam left I’ll add some new photos / updated photos from the last few months that I am happy with.

    C2CEB32A-897D-499A-B5DE-42638EFA994D.jpeg
    0F955710-E499-43D5-93C9-2ABFE5048D6F.jpeg
    CFD18597-93A3-4695-936E-25BE13D9E465.jpeg
    289CDDB8-9CED-41A1-962B-C8F958C42124.jpeg
    216D44D5-7EC8-4745-A122-9C094404D7D2.jpeg
     
  18. Black Friar

    Black Friar Well-Known Member

    A couple of my favs. The C.Vibius was the first Roman coin I purchased. I've had it for at least 20 years, could be more. It was when I had just quit collecting ancients, primarily Byzantine. The Jupiter is a bit newer but not too far of of the Pansa. Of course, they are my coins and photos I took.

    For me it's hard to pick just one favorite. So many coins, so little time.
     

    Attached Files:

  19. ZoidMeister

    ZoidMeister Hamlet Squire of Tomfoolery . . . . .

    The coin, and its edge . . . .

    Z



    xIMG_1890.JPG xIMG_1891.JPG xIMG_1892.JPG
     
  20. LaCointessa

    LaCointessa Well-Known Member

    Hi @sand, I figured that instead of hijacking this thread any further, it would be better to message you my responses to your post. I'll do that in a few minutes. Thanks again! :-D
     
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  21. moneditis

    moneditis Reales de a 8

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