Do coins look different in natural sunlight?

Longacre

I noticed that mine are a lot easier to see and notice details on if I look at them in natural sunlight, rather than under a regular light bulb. Just curious if anyone experienced this. Does natural light hide flaws versus artifical light? It's probably not practical to tell at dealer at a show, "I'll take this $4 Stella outside to get a better look before I buy it", though.

RYK

You are 100% correct. I had a bad experience at FUN last year when I purchased a coin on the bourse, which looked nice for the grade. I took it outside, and I hated it.

When I get a coin in the mail, I take it outside to have a look ASAP. Natural sunlight is also great for photography.

CarlWohlforth

Your question is totally backwards. The real question is "do coins look different in artificial light"? The answer is "naturally"

OK, sorry. I live in CA where there really is natural light in the winter. However summer will come to those parts of the country where natural sunlight is lacking this time of year...

Stuart

Yes. Especially when you are wearing sunglasses!!

BigGreek

I think natural light shows detail and marks better than a bulb.
I also noticed that luster/cartwheel is not as intense with natural
light. It may be due to the color or the diffuse nature of natural
light vs. a bulb. My coins look best when viewed in a dimly
lit room with a few recessed, incadescent spot-lights. I'll take
the same coin to another room by the window and it will look
washed out with lots more marks.

fivecents

I've always been told never grade a coin in the sunlight, because you will under grade the coin. Sunlight brings out every flaw on a coin.

nwcs

Yes, coins can look worse in natural light. Weird, eh? Although some coins look just as good. In fact, with all the different light sources and types out there it's hard to know what a coin should really look like.

ms70

I make my keeper decisions under the skylight in my kitchen. Natural daylight but not with the sun shining directly on it. I have found
that problems such as very faint fingerprints show up best that way. For me this method also brings out the best colors on toned coins.

cladking

Coins look different in sunlight (usually worse). One could probably learn to grade
better using sunlight but it's not always available and will vary by time of day and
by atmoshperic conditions so is not practical. Since grading by florescent lighting
is impossible I do occasionally ask to take a coin outside.

Careful with looking for frost on SMS and proof clad coins using sunlight. They usu-
ally appear to have a light washedout sort of frost.

Merc

Coins are not graded in sunlight. It is too strong and exaggerates every flaw.

CarlWohlforth

I examine coins under an artificial light. I agree they should be graded under consistent conditions. Natural light is not consistent. Even indirect light changes depending on if the sky is blue or cloudy or if trees have green leaves or none... However I get the most accurate photos of toned coins using indirect natural light. That is how the coin is supposed to look. There are many artificial lamps that are natural light wannabes and they claim to produce the real colors of sunlight

XpipedreamR

In my opinion bright sunlight is not a good way to look at coins. It is too bright. I think that there is also too much blue light present. I don't know if that has anything to do with it, but I can't even really see the color on coins under these conditions. All coins look pretty crappy.

I think the best condition for viewing coins is by a window on a completely overcast day, with a nice, evenly bright white sky. Far superior to any artificial light source, In my opinion. Of course, you don't get this at a coin show or at a dealer's shop

NoGvmnt

I like natural (sun) light also. On my toned morgans natural (sun) light brings out the WOW factor whereas artificial light subdues the color differences and cartwheel effect.

I have one peach and pink champagne toned Morgan that looks horrible under artificial light but when taken outside (even in natural light without the sun shining directly on the coin), this coin is a BOOMERWOWZER.

I have another toned Morgan that appears just medium dark in artificial light but in natural light the hair detail exudes this blue and green tint that mezmerizes everyone that looks at it outside.

Jim

Dennis88

Yep. For my proof coins, I only use natural sunlight to look at them. They look just more beautiful......

Dennis

VicPortland

I have some comparison photos. The red looking one was taken using a halogen lamp as the lighting source. The washed out looking one was with natural sunlight. The one I like best had natural lighting but on a cloudy day (we have a lot of them up here in the northwest).

LincolnCentMan

Most coins look worse outside. If I'm buying a coin for my personal collection, I try not to open look at it outside. It hacks me off. I generally take potential submissions outside for a look-see before they go in for grading, though.

David

shylock

Carl's answer says it all "Your question is totally backwards. The real question is "do coins look different in artificial light"?

One of the mysterious things about coins is how different they look depending on the light. Sunlight is the purest way to view them, but since we live indoors it becomes a question of what artificial light best replicates the spectrum of natural sunlight?

CarlWohlforth

Thanks Paul. 150 years ago there weren't so many lighting choices. But people still collected coins. They also made art...

DaveG

According to Scott Travers (in Coin Collector's Survival Manual), here's the effect of different lighting:

Sunlight makes an MS-65 coin look like an AU-55 with scratches
Flourescent light makes an MS-65 coin look like an MS-60 with scratches
Incandescent light makes an MS-65 coin look like an MS-65 with "identity loss" - some details overlooked
Diffused (floodlight) makes an AU-55 coin look like an MS-60
Bare filament makes an ugly MS-60 coin look like an attractive MS-65
A combination of bare filament and floodlight makes an AU-55 coin look like an MS-65 coin

(I'm not sure what he means by "bare filament")

He recommends using a tensor-type lamp with flourescent lighting as a background light.

He also says it's extremely important to use the same type of light consistently to grade and view your coins.

It seems to me that at coin shows, most dealers use incandescent light with flourescent lighting as a background light.

NoGvmnt

"According to Scott Travers (in Coin Collector's Survival Manual), here's the effect of different lighting:

Sunlight makes an MS-65 coin look like an AU-55 with scratches
Flourescent light makes an MS-65 coin look like an MS-60 with scratches
Incandescent light makes an MS-65 coin look like an MS-65 with "identity loss" - some details overlooked
Diffused (floodlight) makes an AU-55 coin look like an MS-60
Bare filament makes an ugly MS-60 coin look like an attractive MS-65
A combination of bare filament and floodlight makes an AU-55 coin look like an MS-65 coin"

So, what type of light do the TPG graders use?

Jim

Nickelback

Where I live the question is "So the sun will be out in ... what month is this?" - and we go with incandescent/flourescent lighting.

What do the dealers look like in natural sunlight!

relayer

Yes - and it is the closest you will ever get to see what the coin REALLY looks like.