Heritage's copper photos

MikeInFL

While buying coins from a photo is fraught with risk, I hope these two examples will give you an idea what to look for should you like circulated copper:

Heritage:



My unretouched (other than resize and border) photo:



Heritage:



My unretouched photo:



I am probably shooting myself in the foot with posting this info, but I thought sharing was the right thing to do given all that I've learned here from you all. I hope this helps...Mike

DickyBetz

The first one looks worse, the second looks better.

lkenefic

Really? I think the hair detail looks better in Mikes' photo than the auction photos. You can definitely see the hit on Liberty's chin better in the second photo, but these sort of contact marks are expected for the grade.

Leo

shylock

MikeInFL -

I've been an observer/critique of Hertitage copper images since 2001. I've both bought and sold coins through them, so I have
a large sample of images to judge. Their copper images have fluctuated all over the place through the years, they never could get
them right -- though they've come close at times.

What they're doing now with their full slab images isn't working. Mike's very realistic photos prove this.

Heritage is now on a white background balance craze. And their use of brightness makes it worse. Less brightened the 1841 label
looks right but the coin is too dark. More brightened the 1914-D label doesn't look right but the coin does, barely.

In both cases Mike's images look so much more realistic than Heritage's.

jayboxx

I bought some proof IHC's that were way nicer in person than on Heritage photos, they probably would have sold for quite a bit more had better pictures been taken.

MikeInFL

<< <i>The first one looks worse, the second looks better. >>



Greg, I'm not sure what you mean by "looks", and you are certainly entitled to your opinion. To be more clear, I wasn't discussing the hit on Liberty's chin (which was visible in Heritage's supersized photos, along with a few old scratches), but rather the color of circulated copper. I apologize for being unclear in my original post...Mike

lkenefic

In terms of color...the Heritage photos definitely look darker, especially on the 1841. Maybe it's just me but when I see dark copper I start thinking porous planchets or corrosion. I like the color in the second photos...kudos!