What's the hardest coin you have had to photograph

Numismanic

For me it is this 1931-S Buffalo nickel. I have made several attempts to image this
coin, but still come short in being able to accurately capture both the strike and color
of this coin. Feel free to guess the grade on this coin. What's the toughest coin you
have tried to image?

tlhoy

I can't get the color right on this coin and I can't get the errors to show properly.

mgoodm3

I have shot this coin countless times. Glossy, lustrous silver can be a pain because the reflections off of the coin tend to be pretty harsh. i took these this morning and am finally happy with what I've got.

ColonialCoinUnion

Any dark, early copper is a pain in the arse.

MikeInFL

Honestly, I don't have trouble with dark early copper. The secret, for me, is lots of lights to bring out the detail.

On the other hand, I have the most trouble with toned proof coins in slabs. Here are two weak efforts that do not do the coins justice. I've almost convinced myself to to crack them to photograph them...Mike





Anyone who's got good advice on how to photo these coins, short of cracking them out, I'm all ears...Mike

Russ

Any toned copper in an NGC slab.

Russ, NCNE

cosmicdebris

<< <i>Any dark, early copper is a pain in the arse. >>

Man

All of them, takes me ten shots to get one right.

09sVDB

All of the ones I'm planning on selling!

AuldFartte

<< <i>Any dark, early copper is a pain in the arse. >>



same here ... I just can't get that stuff to look natural

RedneckHB

all of mine

bgrice

I'm having trouble photoing everything with the winter months coming on. I had a couple of rooms where I could get some good natural lighting coming in the window, but that has changed. This was the best I could do with a 1891 seated half. Not proof although it might appear somewhat.

goose3

my 13s typ2. I could not get hardly any cooperation out of it.

so I mailed it to Russ!

crito

This one has been driving me nuts. This shot gets the colors right, it really is orange, dark blue and purple. And these colors are actually quite normal for a specific type of album used by collectors in Peru. I have other examples with the same color combination (in the same order even), though none have as well defined a "bullseye" pattern as this coin Anyway, I've had this coin in my collection for 20 some years, believe it or not, and it hasn't changed one iota in all that time either. Am hoping to get it into a PCGS slab, but have a feeling it'll get bagged as AT, even though I know for a fact it's not. Colors are just too unusual unless you're a hardcore collector of the series and have seen them before. Going to give it a shot anyway though.

BlindedByEgo

<< <i>All of the ones I'm planning on selling! >>





I'm with you there!

gyocomgd

<< <i>my 13s typ2. I could not get hardly any cooperation out of it.

so I mailed it to Russ!
>>



Turn the flash setting to "off." Just a suggestion.

gyocomgd

<< <i>For me it is this 1931-S Buffalo nickel. I have made several attempts to image this
coin, but still come short in being able to accurately capture both the strike and color
of this coin. Feel free to guess the grade on this coin. What's the toughest coin you
have tried to image?

>>



Probably not the coin that makes photographing difficult but the holder. Few of my nickels look right through a holder either--when I get the angle of the coin right, there's glare from the light source. It's always very difficult.
Also the camera tends to focus on the surface of the holder instead of the coin, which puts the coin out of focus--that may be the case here as well.
The holder sometimes is kind of opaque instead of transparent, making my nickels look milky. I hate that. It obscures surface details.
So what is the grade? The image makes it hard to guess--I'll try 63 or 64.

crito

This morning's toned coin photo frustration:

MikeInFL

Does ANYBODY have any tips for photographing toned coins through slabs?!?

dizzyfoxx

This reverse has been one of the toughest for me. It has so much bright color toning and sparkling under-lying luster and I just cannot produce an image that justifies its' incredible beauty. Here are three failed attempts to properly portray the coin's reverse because it has so much more true eye-appeal in-hand. I'll figure it out eventually...

jdimmick

Early copper. especially if holdered.

jim

MikeInFL

<< <i>Early copper. especially if holdered.

jim >>



Jim, have you tried multiple lights at a small angle (15-30 degrees) to the plane of the coin? I've found this really does the trick on tough to image old copper.

Here's a really tough one to image that using three lights really brought out the details:



Here's one using a single light, that IMHO, also looks good:



I honestly don't get what's so hard about old copper....Mike

messydesk

I have an 1881 Indian cent in PR63RB that presents difficulties. I'll post it later.