"What an ordeal this has been"... Have made progress but still have a ways to go... "Mission somewhat acomplished"

Greetings Collectors,

As most of you know, I have been involved in the most tedious process of getting some pix to post with my journals. The one I have here (if I picked the right one) is a 1905 $20 Double Eagle that I puchased in late summer. I will not know 'til I actually post this journal whether or not it is a good photo. Anyway as I mentioned in a previous post, this was a "Heritage" auction buy and the coin was purchased for "AU58" money. I own over a dozen "type 3" double eagles with the best, an NGC slabbed 1904 in MS 63. This AU coin has as much luster and as few marks as that "63". I own a second 1905 in AU 58 in an NGC slab which I have registered in my set here at the CS. The 1905 and the 1902 are two of the lowest mintage dates of the type three and are very rare in "mint state".

Having said that, the coin pictured here will be "cracked out" and submitted to NGC and I will bet it comes back 62 and I may get a 63 out of it. It is absolutely amazing some of the coins that are undergraded out there. If this coin comes back 63, it would bring close to 8-10 K at auction. Of course I will never sell it as this date and the 1902-P are very rare coins in mint state with just 140 graded in MS 62 and higher for this 1905-P. Total known coins from all services is a little over one thousand coins in ALL grades for the 1905-P. I feel very lucky to own two of this date, with the NGC coin being a 58 and looking 60+ and this "Anacs" coin, a very solid mint state example. This year was noted for its "softly struck" high points and most of the time, it is very "baggy" with lots of marks. With the coin pictured here, the fields are almost entirely free of any major distracting marks on the obverse and the reverse (which I will post a pic later of) is "stunning" with close to zero bag marks/scratches.

I have received many offers of help and many more tips with my studies of the last 10 or so days. While some have helped more than others, two have helped in a very large way. I just got off the phone with "RBG" after a two hour plus phone tutorial which taught me more than anyone. Many, many thanks to you Brandon, from your island state paradise west of California, because without your patience tonight, this photo would not be here. A web site that Brandon "turned me onto" is "irfanview". He also walked me through the entire editing process, less the cropping, which I plan to do, to not only this coin, but all my others. Another person who has e-mailed me close to a dozen times with multiple tips/links is Andrew who lives "down under" and goes by the name here as "krytencoins". Andrew has even gone as far as having me e-mail some pix which he then edited and cropped and mailed back. Close to a half dozen coins are on my e-mail as I write this post. And last but not least, a great guy name Bao who goes by "mudskippie". (He hails from the great state of CA.) Bao talked with me for an hour right before the weekend about all kinds of cool numismatic topics besides photogaphy. (Bao also has a "mean" set of "Rosie" dimes, 100% complete) Thanks to these three and countless others on the subject of coin photography. I will try to post a journal with a summary of what has been shared by these and others in the "not too distant" future.

While I have learned alot, I am far from having a degree in this subject. I plan on continuing to experiment with different lighting and distances. Also the backgrounds are important as well. This shot was done under a 60watt table lamp with the camera set on 8.1 MP. I also bought a real nice tripod for $13 at Walmart so that movement was kept to a minimum. And lastly I had my Sanyo digital camera set on "micro".

I am very pleased to be where I am in my photo skill dept. but still have much to learn. Thanks again to all that have helped me to have even more "fun with my coins". Happy Collecting! WKF (Kerry)

P.S. The coin pictured here is way better looking than these tired pix illustrate. I will post an additional "head and tail" pic soon and will let some of you guess what it will grade at later this year when I re-up on my membership and send it off to NGC or PCGS. I still can't beleive AU-58...