An example of the difference between a scanner and a camera for capturing toning.

Russ

A while back I bought this as one of those "curiosity" snipes. I wanted to see what it looked like in reality, and it was worth $2 to find out. Besides, ugly coins need love too.



That picture was done with a scanner and it looks like, well, crap.

Here's the coin after I got it in and shot it:



Looks a thousand times better, doesn't it?

In reality, though, it looks neither as bad as the original picture, nor as good as the image I created. It's in between the two. The moral of the story? Using just an image to make a buying decision can sometimes result in either a) A good score or b) Getting screwed. So, I guess that brings us back to c) Square one.

Russ, NCNE

dorkkarl

no question that digi-pics are no replacement for sight-seen.

K S

AbesNeighbor

Good lesson for all of us. Creative photography has "gotten" me a couple of times.

Dan

ANACONDA

Excellent post.....

which goes to show you that you should consider buying only from sellers who

1) have a reasonably good eBay rating AND

2) who offer a fair return policy.

adrian

Lori

I have tried using my scanner to "capture" my toned coins and they look dull with very little color. On the silver coins (like eagles) the image always has a purple tint. A digital camera is 1000 times better to use. They really allow you to view the coin just the way it is and allows everyone else to see the beautiful coins you have.

That was a great find Russ. Very nice Kennedy.

Lori

keithdagen

Russ,

You can get some in-between results if you angle the coin to the scanner.

Here's a Seated Half Dime scanned flat:



Now, this is the same coin (capturing the color, but losing the focus and detail), scanned using the same scanner at settings, excep the slab is at an appromimate 10 to 15 degree angle:

airplanenut

Well, the difference is you have limited angles and one light source on a scanner- and any angle and any light with a camera... I'm looking into getting one real soon

TomB

If you go to my web site you can see a write up I did on the differences between scanners and film for capturing toning on coins. There are images of the coins, too.

ANACONDA

Baley

i do not have a scanner but if i did and scanned these coins, they would not look like this, both pieces endroll, the other sides of them are unremarkable.

Baley

BTW TomB, love your site, have Ivyleague bookmarked

leothelyon

The right kind of light, the amount of light, the angle of the light, the shudder speed, camera settings, the background and its a whole different setup if the coin is raw or slabbed, then there are the proof coins.............aarrrgg!!

Leo

DCAMFranklin

So.....you're no longer advocating the practice of "grading by scan"?

ldhair

adrian

What did you do with the image keithdagen posted. It looks much better.

Barry

After taking a digi-pic, if necessary, I adjust the colors in my image editing software. Something like Photoshop Elements or Paint Shop Pro is MUCH better than the freebies they usually include with the camera.
Also, it also helps to bump up the Exposure Compensation Value (EV), if you're shooting a white background. Otherwise, the white will appear gray, similar to taking a snbow pic - the bright white fools the camera into thinking it's a gray level. This can also be done in software, afterwards.

keithdagen

What did you do with the image keithdagen posted. It looks much better.

Larry,

I asked the same question, was given a vague response, and told that I would have to sign a confidentiality agreement to get any more out of him.

ldhair

Well sign the darn thing and tell us. Oh.... he's a lawyer... forget that

I would guess you bought the coin from him. It's a nice coin.

originalisbest

Looks like nothing more than a quick tweak of the levels palette in Photoshop.