Educate me on scanning images of coins please

Parkekal

OK, I am not a computer whiz... I scan my coin images and they look terrible. What is the best setting 150, 300, 600, 1200 etc... at what point does size become an issue (no jokes here). What is the best kind of file? JPEG, GIF, BMP, other... Anyone that knows something about this would be helping me a ton if you could offer some advice.

parke

Russ

The vast majority of scanners will not produce decent coin images no matter what you do. That's why most use digital cameras.

Russ, NCNE

lablover

I use an Epson Perfection 2450 Photo Scanner with great results. However, I would agree with Russ that "most" will not capture the coin. The Epson is an exception in my opinion. I never use more than 150 dpi. Take note, the scanner does well with toned coins, however those that are all white and especially proofs are near impossible to scan...just to much light reflecting back.

Do not lay the coin flat. Try setting the coin on a slight angle of 1/4" to 3/8". I use a post-it-note pad to rest the holder on...works very well. Saving the image as a jpeg file is fine, however do not exceed 49.99kb if your wanting to post the image on PCGS. Anything larger will not load. Try different sizes when you scan the coin for the enlargement. Usually, I'll scan my Roosies at 305%. An "on-screen" measurement of 4" x 4" works well.

Good luck.

Here's a sample scan image:

Dan50

That be a nice Roosie.

lablover

<< <i>That be a nice Roosie. >>



Thanks, I appreciate the comment.

rap

Here is a scanned image done on an old Epson 610.
If you link to the image it can be a lot bigger than if posted here.
silver proof gold proof