Hello! Introduction and Images of Some of My Collection

CPJ · April 12, 2020 8:42AM

Hello everyone. I've been lurking on the boards for over a year now and would like to introduce myself. I'd first like to say the amount of knowledge and expertise here is incredible. It seems that there is no question that the group cannot accurately answer. I've learned a lot in the last year just reading and hope to further my understanding going forward.

About me, I've returned to the hobby after collecting when I was young. I've been inspired by combing two of my hobbies, photography and coins. I'm a sucker for the details, and adding a good macro image can allow me to see details that I would have simply overlooked by eye or with a magnifying loop.

As to what I collect, it's taken me a while to focus, and I can't say I am as well focused as I'd like to be. There are so many nice coins out there that I've bounced around a bit. As of now, I'm focused on three areas. The first is a 19th Century Everyman type set in VF and XF looking for coins with strong photographic potential. Others are the Dansco 7070 type set, which at this stage I can dovetail the 1800 circulated set into, and finally Liberty Walking Half Dollars. For the last two, a strong look for the camera is good, but not something I'm strongly sticking to.

For the images, here's a 1819 Capped Bust Quarter. This one is a large 9 variety in VF35. Originally, I was a bit disappointed with the in hand look until I was able to see the details a bit closer. That's when I found what I am pretty sure is a die crack in the stars. Here are the images:

Obverse

Reverse

Lighting Near Axial

Lighting Closer to Tangential

Mark · April 12, 2020 8:59AM

Darn those are nice pictures (of a nice coin)!!!

Swampboy · April 12, 2020 9:10AM

I'll second what @Mark said @CPJ and

littlebear · April 12, 2020 9:12AM

Welcome!
Nice pics!

LJenkins11 · April 12, 2020 9:24AM

Also, welcome. Your photos are great, can't wait to see more of your work.

P0CKETCHANGE · April 12, 2020 9:24AM

Welcome, that is a beautiful coin.

messydesk · April 12, 2020 9:26AM

@CPJ said:
...
As to what I collect, it's taken me a while to focus, and I can't say I am as well focused as I'd like to be. There are so many nice coins out there that I've bounced around a bit. As of now, I'm focused on three areas. The first is a 19th Century Everyman type set in VF and XF looking for coins with strong photographic potential. ...

Dave Wnuck wrote in his blog a couple years ago the increasing importance of photogeneticity of coins, since the first impression people usually get today is from a photograph. A cool coin that just doesn't photograph well is going to be a tougher sell. So your criteria for your 19th C. Everyman set are sound.

Sonorandesertrat · April 12, 2020 9:43AM

Nice looking coin. Yes, what you see is a coin struck from a failing obverse die. Die failure near the edge is especially common, since there is nothing to reinforce the edges of the dies as the press forces metal into the die voids (especially stars or letters).

Since you want to do a 7070 set, look at old threads dealing with these--a Dansco 7070 album can be a lifelong diversion.

davewesen · April 12, 2020 9:48AM

welcome to the boards

maybe you could explain the difference between tangential and axial lighting? and why stars 5,6,7 look doubled in one of them?

ms70 · April 12, 2020 9:59AM

Welcome!

Namvet69 · April 12, 2020 10:03AM

Hola! We come in peace.

JeffMTampa · April 12, 2020 10:09AM

Welcome to the boards! Here's an 1819 Half (PC20) to go along with your quarter

I agree about the photography part- my eyes are a bit too old to see the coins on their own.

koynekwest · April 12, 2020 10:17AM

Welcome! You take great pics!

Catbert · April 12, 2020 10:23AM

Well done and welcome!

wayfarer · April 12, 2020 10:25AM

Welcome, great photos.

CPJ · April 12, 2020 10:49AM

@Mark said:
Darn those are nice pictures (of a nice coin)!!!

Thank you. The coin is definitely growing on me.

CPJ · April 12, 2020 10:50AM

@Swampboy said:
I'll second what @Mark said @CPJ and

Thank you!

CPJ · April 12, 2020 10:51AM

@littlebear said:
Welcome!
Nice pics!

Thanks. Good to be here and now contributing.

CPJ · April 12, 2020 10:52AM

@LJenkins11 said:
Also, welcome. Your photos are great, can't wait to see more of your work.

Appreciated. I'll definitely post more when I have the time and right coins in hand.

CPJ · April 12, 2020 10:54AM

@P0CKETCHANGE said:
Welcome, that is a beautiful coin.

Thank you. The beauty of the coins, especially up close, it what drew me in. There's something about seeing the small details that keeps my attention.

CPJ · April 12, 2020 10:58AM

@Sonorandesertrat said:
Nice looking coin. Yes, what you see is a coin struck from a failing obverse die. Die failure near the edge is especially common, since there is nothing to reinforce the edges of the dies as the press forces metal into the die voids (especially stars or letters).

Since you want to do a 7070 set, look at old threads dealing with these--a Dansco 7070 album can be a lifelong diversion.

Thank you for the confirmation. I wasn't aware about the reinforcement on the edges driving the cracking. That's certainly good to know and will allow me to focus in those areas.

I'll take a look at the 7070 threads. I can easily see how that set would provide many years of fun. First, get the set completed or close to it then upgrade to get the consistency or look down. We'll see how it goes.

johnny9434 · April 12, 2020 11:01AM

Nice coin and welcome to the forum

skier07 · April 12, 2020 11:02AM

Welcome aboard and that’s a nice looking coin.

I think it’s equally important if not more important that a coin looks good in hand.

ShipwreckCoinHunter · April 12, 2020 11:17AM

Welcome to the forum, Nice cap bust 👍

CPJ · April 12, 2020 11:53AM

@davewesen said:
welcome to the boards

maybe you could explain the difference between tangential and axial lighting? and why stars 5,6,7 look doubled in one of them?

Thanks! Sure. For reference, the camera is perpendicular to the coin or at a 90 degree angle for most shots. A true axial angle would be along the axis of the camera barrel or at 90 degrees. The the case of the shots above, the lighting was set around the camera barrel and was in a range of roughly 70-80 degrees. Light behaves similar to a billiard ball and will bounce (reflect) once it hits the coin. Those surfaces of the coin that point toward the camera lens will reflect that axial lighting back towards the camera and will appear brighter. The surfaces that point away from the lens, such as the sides of the stars, will reflect the light away from the camera lens and not be captured as well. These will appear darker. The edges and accumulated material make the edges of star 5 below look dark and could give the appearance of doubling from a distance. I cropped it at 1:1 so it can be seen more clearly.

For tangential lighting, the light would be coming in flat or at 0 degrees to the coin. With a holder, this wouldn't work well, so I have the lights at about a 30 degree angle. This illuminates the flat fields of the coin reasonably well. For the edges, the light will bounce, and some will reflect back to the camera lens. This will make the edges look bright. For this example, I used a single light shining from the top of the coin. You can still see shadows on the bottom as there is no direct lighting on the sides of the coin there.

For the final image, I added a second light shining from the bottom. This eliminates much of the shadowing on the bottom of the star, but still gives a bright reflection on the die crack.

Hope this helps those who are interested in the imaging process.

CPJ · April 12, 2020 11:55AM

@ms70 said:
Welcome!

Thanks!

CPJ · April 12, 2020 12:04PM

@JeffMTampa said:
Welcome to the boards! Here's an 1819 Half (PC20) to go along with your quarter

I agree about the photography part- my eyes are a bit too old to see the coins on their own.

Sweet. That looks like the perfect companion for my quarter. Future goals.... Yep, I didn't catch the die crack until downloaded the image.

CPJ · April 12, 2020 12:07PM

@skier07 said:
Welcome aboard and that’s a nice looking coin.

I think it’s equally important if not more important that a coin looks good in hand.

I agree. It can photograph well, but if it doesn't have a good look in hand, I'll likely call it a miss and not keep it long term. Having the in hand look plus photographing well is the goal.

crazyhounddog · April 12, 2020 12:15PM

Welcome😊
Beautiful coins and great pics.

coinhack · April 12, 2020 1:02PM

Welcome. Nice coin and your photography is excellent.

Mark · April 12, 2020 1:45PM

@cpj Re your post with the 3 photos: Please knock off posting these sorts of pictures. I mean, your first post with its photos already made me feel SO inferior!!

In truth, these are simply great photos. I, along with everyone else, await pictures of your next coin!

bolivarshagnasty · April 12, 2020 2:01PM

Kudos to you for lurking and learning. So many jump in with both feet and pay mega tuition. Nice photos!

SkyMan · April 12, 2020 3:05PM

Welcome aboard! Nice coin.

Remember the single most important aspect of coin collecting is to have FUN!!!

savitale · April 12, 2020 3:10PM

Nice coin, welcome!

marcmoish · April 12, 2020 3:31PM

hey welcome CPJ, great pic for a newbie

kaz · April 12, 2020 3:36PM

Welcome to the forum! That's a beautiful quarter, and some seriously high quality images. Your collecting interests are similar to mine, although I tend to digress off into various esoteric areas. I look forward to seeing more of your collection.