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Are these scans good enough?
jimq
Posts: 283 ✭✭✭
My father-in-law asked me to help him sell some extra coins. I tried scanning these, are the scans good enough to show these coins or should I look for a camera or something? I know the coins aren't much but any advice would help a lot, thanks in advance!
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They are good enough for those coins. The Peace dollar is damaged and only worth the silver value.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
got to see both sides of the holdered coins
I'm sorry, I didn't explain myself well at all. I haven't seen the coins he wants to sell. I scanned a peace dollar from a bag of 90% scrap and tried to scan 2 really different coins to see how the scanner treated coins, so I scanned the front of one and the back of the other.
All I really care about is if the scans are good enough or if I should find a different way to take pictures.
I think he mostly collects Morgan dollars so I'm guessing most will be Morgans he upgraded, nothing real special at all. Maybe a few hundred coins at most.
Thanks again.
Yes, for the coins you selected, the scans are good enough.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
If the coins you plan to scan are like the Peace dollar, mostly just silver value type coins then yes scanning is good enough. If you have any BU coins in the group you would likely do better with photos even if just good cell phone photos.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
Copper might be a little more difficult to scan 🤷♂️
Scanners have positives and negatives when it comes to imaging coins. Scans are great for always being in focus (except for super-high-relief objects) and tend to show fine details, as well as defects and flaws, quite well (as we can see from the gouges on the Peace). Scanners are also good at embedding "Actual size" info of a coin, in terms of reproducing that image in print at either 1:1 or a specific magnification.
The main deficiency of scans is that lustre and toning often don't come up very well, so if you have a blast-white beautiful Unc coin, a scan can make it look kind of dull and grey. Likewise, beautiful but subtle toning can be difficult to capture using a scanner.
I use a scanner all the time to capture coin images for articles for my coin club's magazine.
Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"
Apparently I have been awarded the DPOTD twice.
I never use a scanner for coins or anything. I think that photos are better. JMO
But yes your scanner pics are OK.
Thanks for all your responses and advice! I don't know yet what coins are coming but I don't expect any real valuable or rare coins and I just want to make sure my scans don't make things worse.