GoldFinger1969

On 1/25/2023 at 11:34 PM, bsshog40 said:

First off, the registry can only take slabbed coins. So it won't work for logging in raw coins. I'm the same, I create an excel spreadsheet. Broke it down into types such as bullion, cents, halves etc.... and the added columns for dates, denominations, any costs that I remembered etc..... With excel you really make as many categories and columns as you like. It can be a little time consuming but in the end it's worth it. You can rows as you add coins or delete as you sell. Or just highlight it with a color that you like to indicate sold. Soo much you can do. And as EagleRJO mentioned, save it as a pdf and send to phone for reference. I actually have excel on my phone so I can update right on the spot if needed. 

The great thing is that for the modern coins (which are graded) and the non-modern gradeds, you get great pics.  

Though I'm not sure if it's the actual coin for a modern or a representative of the coin type.

On 11/20/2022 at 11:57 AM, Coinbuf said:

The NGC registry/inventory is how I keep a digital record of my coin inventory, this can be accessed via your phone while at a show.   You do not have to create registry sets to use the inventory portion of the registry.

I had forgotten about this but when I got my 1st smartphone a few years ago and I was fooling around and learning how to use "apps" (didn't even know what they were !  )...I used the barcode scanner thing a few times.

I never registered for the registry....I just punched in numbers and/or scanned using the optical barcode reader....but apparently, they were saved on my phone or the site (even though I never created a registry other than my NGC login name).  When I went to try it again today after a member here mentioned the App, the old look-ups were still there.

Anyway....CB....I might have use to do like you and "keep a digital record of my coin inventory."  This would require me to create a registry login, right -- not just my Forum name that I created here ?  But I won't have to do the registry points thing ?

I just thought it might be nice to have something on my smartphone other than a picture of my Excel Spreadsheet of my coin listings.  Wondering about the possibility though of having my barcodes "stolen" and used by counterfeiters, though.

The Coin Purse is your LCS ?

For adults, stuff like the Spiderman Coin may be seen as gimmicks....but if it gets youngsters into the hobby like the State Coin program, I'm all for it.

Eagle, I think I read somewhere sometime that bulk grading costs for large submitters was maybe $15-$20 per coin, is that right ?  And for most individuals here, $25-$35 is a fair range ?

On 1/25/2023 at 8:57 PM, RWB said:

A coin is simply an irregular reflective metal object. Parts of the surface will reflect light directly into a camera's lens and, assuming a 'average' exposure, produce blown-out over exposed areas. Other parts reflect all of the light away from the lens and appear black, yet other parts reflect different proportions of light to the lens. This is based both on gross surface geometry - surface relief changes - and microsurface smoothness. A polished part of the surface will diffuse less light and thus appeal both higher contrast and visually sharper. One of the little coin photo tricks is to pretend the coin is a portrait, and arrange your light so that it is lit from the upper face of the profile. You can 'smooth' the tones by directing light and different angles to 'open' the dark portions, and 'flatten' overly bright areas.  Master this - lighting first - then consider if you really can benefit from new equipment.

You've said that luster is light reflecting off thousands of microscopic "ridges" caused by deformations in the metal caused by the pressure of the striking (I remembered ! ). 

How would the picture look for 2 coins that were essentially the same but one had great luster (not handled at all) but the other was essentially full of luster-breaks from handling ?

On 1/25/2023 at 4:13 PM, Hoghead515 said:

I may save up get her a nice one. Ive seen some nice used cameras with all kinds of extra lenses and things for around $1000 to $1200.  Not sure yet. May just get one around $300 or $400. Be a good birthday present for her this summer. I can get some use out of it to. 

You would think some would be up for sale on Ebay or camera auction sites from people selling their equipment or looking to get digital replacements or estates needing to liquidate.

On 1/25/2023 at 7:47 PM, VKurtB said:

Even “good” vinyl pressings are positively discernible from digital recordings.  

Yeah, I've heard that...hard to believe that a 1960's vinyl record might more accurately represent what The Beatles or The Rolling Stones actually sang 55 years ago than if you could go back in time and bring a digital recorder. .

On 1/25/2023 at 1:46 PM, KarenHolcomb said:

@GoldFinger1969 I have a Telescope that collected a bunch of dust before I finally put it into a box and into the attic. It wasn't what I thought when I bought it. I wanted one that was just manual. That I could turn a lens or 2 and see what there was to see. This thing has discs and I'm supposed to put my coordinates into a pc and when I would, supposedly I think, set it up outside whatever it would see I would see on the pc? Idek. Never figured it out. Wasted 200 bucks. Lol! 

For a few hundred $$$ today, you can get a fully-computerized scope (4-6") with decent optics that you lock on to 2 or 3 stars...and then can slew to any of thousands of objects pre-programmed.

So many people lost interest in astronomy over the decades because they couldn't find anything with their scopes.  No longer a problem ! 

On 1/25/2023 at 7:20 PM, Elithenewguy said:

I'm looking to learn. I'm not a "waiting for lightning to strike" kind of guy. I survived 4 combat deployments in the middle east that enough lightning for me. I find this process fascinating, im holding a1942 penny right now just thinking of the journey this coin has had all these years and now it sits here with me. But also if there is opportunity to make some money why not just a bonus I guess.

Well, we have some super-savvy experts here so feel free to ask away.  I consider myself a beginner-to-intermediate coin collector with a passion for $20 Double Eagles (an expensive passion which limits my buying frequency, unfortunately ), other gold coins, Morgans and silver coins, commemoratives (mostly moderns), and modern coins/bullion.

I do lots of reading and compiling of information and little factual tidbits, so if you have questions on those coin types or sectors, feel free to pick my brain. 

On 1/25/2023 at 6:50 PM, Elithenewguy said:

Thank you all for taking time out to help me out. I am a disabled veteran just looking for a hobby looking through these coins help with my anxiety believe it or not. But if I can make a little cash while doing it then why not so thank you all sincerely for your guidance it is much appreciated.

Thank you for your service !! 

This can be a rewarding hobby and you can certainly make a living from it.  However, to avoid LOSING money by not knowing too much about coins in general or a specific niche....might I suggest going slow and maybe seeking a PT job in a LCS (Local Coin Shop) or helping out someone who displays at local or regional coin shows ?

It would be a good opportunity to LEARN about coins...and learn about the business of coins...before committing your time and $$$.

Some of us here are dealers who make a living....others have been lucky to buy very cheap and seen nice gains in our collections....BUT MOST OF US probably have collections worth exactly what we paid for them, maybe even less.  Even if we made $$$, it is probably less than we could have done in CDs or stocks (we have threads debating this  ).  We do this because we ENJOY IT and just like you looking for help with anxiety it gives us pleasure from the daily grind and toll of our other life situations.  Again, coins are a hobby, not an investment -- that's how we treat them (well, most of us anyway  ).

So yes, coins are DEFINITELY fun to buy/sell and learn about....and they CAN (occasionally) be lucrative (but don't count on it)....but go slow and please ask questions so we can assist you.  

On 1/25/2023 at 2:52 PM, Elithenewguy said:

Hello I'm new to this coin Hobbie. 

Eli, are you planning on just looking for valuable coins and hoping lightning strikes...or do you intend to learn, educate yourself, spend time reading....and then buy (and maybe sell) certain coins or types of coins?

On 1/25/2023 at 5:08 PM, Sandon said:

Grading services are normally for coins worth at least several hundred dollars each! 

Is that true, Sandon ?  I only ask because I see plenty of coins that sell for UNDER $50 and even if the TPG did the grading at cost (materials for the holderr, grade, time of the graders) it's got to be $15 at the cheapest....and yet, I find coins in holders that sell for as cheap as $25.  In fact, I bought one -- a 69 Red Penny -- at FUN 2020 when I just wanted to completely empty my wallet on the final day. 

I would guess maybe the more active dealers get big discounts or even some comps on holders for less-expensive coins.  Considering the materials and time spent on expensive coins is about the same yet with a much more expensive price tag...they can afford it. 

And those zoom lenses and wide-angles can cost serious $$$.....I believe anywhere from $300 - $1,000.   

Not included with the camera !!

On 1/25/2023 at 3:25 PM, Hoghead515 said:

I had him zoomed all the way in as much as the camera would zoom. I had the auto focus on but I shake so bad it probably couldnt keep pace with me. I got really bad nerves. On the zoom mines got a bar that goes from 0.5x to 10x. I had it on 10x trying get him in as close as I could. I also got an auto focus button i always use. It helps but this phone still dont take very good pictures. My wifes phone takes very good pics. Hers way better than mine. She got a Samsung. One of the S's. I cant remember which one. I think its a 20. She just got it a couple months ago. I sent a message asked her. She said its an S21

It wasn't a bad photo, so don't beat yourself up.  You can CLEARLY see it's an eagle.

The fact you say you used maximum Zoom explains why the image was a bit blurry and not razor-sharp.  Not sure how far away the eagle was, but look at my 3rd photo above of the trees.....it's not as sharp as the No-Zoom photo or even the 4x-Zoom photo.  That's from 60 feet away and I'm shooting big branches 3-5 feet long...imagine going after a bird that is maybe 18" long/high.

Yes....if you were going to photograph wildlife and need to zoom in 20-50x WITHOUT loosing sharpness, you need professional zoom and optical lenses (like the ones we see on NatGeo or PBS).  They are also easier to hold...and mount...than a phone, as some said above.

On 1/25/2023 at 1:50 PM, VKurtB said:

Previously, the 2024 World’s Fair of Money had been scheduled for Rosemont, Illinois in August. That has now been changed. For the time being, the next opportunity for the ANA’s signature show to return to Chicagoland will be in 2026.  The current rundown of years and sites is: 2023 - Pittsburgh 2024 - Oklahoma City 2025 - Pittsburgh

The move for 2024 is believed to be related to security concerns at the venue, but that is unconfirmed. 

If it was IN Chicago, security would be a no-brainer.  Isn't Rosemont like Chicago suburbs ?

Here's 3 photos I just took outside my terrace door.  It's probably 60 feet to the trees across the parking lot (I'm on the 2nd floor about 15 feet above the ground).

I took these 3 shots with no zoom, 4x zoom, and 8x zoom.

On 1/25/2023 at 11:43 AM, Hoghead515 said:

I think it narrowed the problem down to the man trying to work it. I never could figure out how many whatcha macall its those pictures of that eagle was. Where I couldnt get it focused very well. Thats why I didnt get back to ya. I never could find it on my phone camera. 

On my Galaxy S9, I just use the basic PHOTO feature (not SINGLE TAKE, SPORT, ACTION, etc.).  The auto-focus should work if you are shooting an eagle from 5 feet away or 50 feet away.  Tap the screen object to let the camera know that's what you want to focus on (if there are objects in the foreground AND background, it doesn't know which object to focus on -- you have to let it know).

Sometimes a Yellow Dot or circle will appear when you have locked in on the item...or the camera locks in on something else (tap what you want to focus on to switch).

Take some photos of trees equal to the distance of that eagle and see if they are razor-sharp and you can also zoom in on the photo or object without losing too much clarity.  You should be able to do that.

If I could, I'd post a video of my dog Teddy,  where I zoom in...you can see it loses A BIT of sharpness but not too much.

On 1/25/2023 at 1:35 PM, KarenHolcomb said:

@GoldFinger1969Dude you are way above my head when you talk about how pixels work and this x that. Some stuff just doesn't click for me. I think probably I make things more complicated than they really are. That said, I think that your actual shot is the most important thing when it comes to how much you can do with it after the mess is taken. You have to have a great shot before you can alter it and make it better. Idk how to say what is in my head. Smh. Ok, maybe this... If yiu take your best possible shot, it could only get 10x better with all your tools you're using. However, I have never had any of that fancy high tech stuff and I've rarely seen a photo of a Coin that is better than any one of mine doing it how I described above. It doesn't have to be difficult and involved. See? And a lot if the time I see people's photos taken via a microscope and they are 360° with all the distortion and getting in so close that idek what part of the Coin I'm looking at. Last tidbit, never get closer to a Coin until you've pulled back from it first. Probably none of that makes sense. Ooops. 

You're probably right, Karen.......but we have some super-knowledgeable folks here so I thought I would pick their brains on PQ and stuff like that.

I have some smart guys in my astronomy club but I'm just into viewing, not imaging and photographs. 

On 1/25/2023 at 1:21 PM, Hoghead515 said:

Ill give that a try. 

I also have a mini-glass table (maybe 15" diamter) that I can do the same thing...the key is just have something that you place the phone against so it can't move and is already close to the coin so you need minimal zooming for the whole slab and just a bit more to zoom in on the coin and enlarge it to the max size. 

Mini-tripod I've had for 20+ years was also a worthwhile investment.

On 1/25/2023 at 12:07 PM, RWB said:

Additionally, film has a much greater dynamic range that digital, and it is analog down to the molecular level meaning much smoother transitions between tones. NASA had to create a special digital system to make photos of the lunar polar regions.

That "dynamic range" must be what old films have and those 35 mm photos/slides my father took when I was growing up.

I wasn't aware of NASA doing special cameras, I'll ask NASA folks next time they come to NEAF. 

We've been taught that digital is "better" than analog (4K > Blu-Ray > DVD > S-VHS > VHS > OTA TV).

On 1/25/2023 at 11:57 AM, VKurtB said:

The phone, ALL phones, create heavily digitally processed photos. They are designed to be pleasing to the eye, but NOT ACCURATE in any scientific sense. Accurate photos REQUIRE turning off ALL AUTOMATIC EVERYTHING, and making the camera act as if it had film in it. Yes, I know that’s a lot of trouble, and not very popular, but it is what it is. I see things in this board photographically that make me want to be sick, if I’m being honest. I worked over 35 years in the photo business and the reason I don’t post coin photos on this board is frankly because they all nauseate me, mine and everyone else’s. It’s not easy to do well, and doing it well is EXPENSIVE. And no, no LCD’s or compact fluorescent ANYTHING is worth a 💩. 

Why is FILM more "accurate" to the naked eye than a digital reproduction ?

BTW...I have a photo my father took when our house was being built in 1966....he probably used a Konica 35 mm....yet, the resolution is 3328x2216.  I would have thought it was at most 1/3rd that level of pixels/resolution.  I was watching TCM years ago and they said something like old film -- B&W or color -- had lots of "data" or information or bits contained that you really don't lose anything when you do a HD transfer.

I suspect my old Instamatic camera or one of those throw-awys probably had film with much less resolution than my dad's 1960's 35mm.  

On 1/25/2023 at 11:46 AM, Hoghead515 said:

Thats been a problem Ive had. Soon as I get the coin where I like it the light glares off the slab in the way. 

You need a fixed point to shoot from.  Use a mini-tripod....OR...take them manually but have the coins on a box or something where you push the phone flush against the box so it's in the same location each time.  The angle of the phone or whether you raise/lower it can change but that's easier to prevent than shaking the camera which won't happen when pressed.

Here's my setup.  I put the coin up against the back of the La-Z-Boy chair....black velvet prevents it hitting the box if it slides....I put the bottom of the phone up against the front of the box....the yellow BEST SHOT indicator will turn on when I have optimized the shot (I have a Galaxy S9)....depending on the coin's glare, I will angle the phone a bit different or slide it up/down but for the most part pushing it forward against the box means shaking/jitter/motion is practically eliminated....I use the (optical) zoom up to about 2.2x for most coins, small ones I can zoom up to 4x if I want a full close-up and maximize the size of the coin.

Right above the chair...coming down right on the box....I have an overhead lamp with an LED light which is probably a bit high on brightness but works.  I can angle it around if I'm having a glare problem with very reflective coins (i.e, Morgan Silver Dollars).  I think it's 1100 lumens, probably can better utilize 500-750. 

One of the reasons I've been active on the photo and camera threads and posts the last few days is I just took pictures of ALL my coins so I have a record for my own knowledge (while at a show or LCS)...for insurance purposes....and to catalog how they look.

As it turned out, it also lets you go back and see if the coin has changed.   And unfortunately, one of mine has.......it's an 1898 Morgan Silver Dollar MS64 PL.  If you look closely, you can see the dark/black blotch at 9 PM.  It could be toning, but if it is it's monochromatic only and black. 

I'm a bit teed off since I figured a coin that didn't tone or show other blemishes for 120 years was probably safe.  I guess not.  I can't believe I bought it like this but I have to check and see if I took pics of the coin years ago on an older smartphone.

On 1/25/2023 at 4:51 AM, Hoghead515 said:

Ill try figure it out. Its got all sorts of settings on it but I dont know what half that stuff does. Im not the greatest with technology. 

Ditto with me, Hog.  But the pics should be razor-sharp on the basic PHOTO default setting (don't use SINGLE TAKE or one of the other settings like SPORT, etc.).  If they aren't, do check the lens to make sure it's not dirty (probably isn't).  Clean out your cache and maybe re-start the phone.

If that doesn't fix it, just shake the phone for 2-4 seconds and take a pic.  Keep doing it until it sharpens.

The camera actually took sharp pics of my coins or anything up-close to focus on...but not anything normal or far-away distance.  It was clearly something with the auto-focus getting "stuck."  There's a few photos or links out there if you search for "Samsung camera, blurry, shake solution."

On 1/24/2023 at 4:07 PM, RWB said:

Yes. Barber cut a lower relief obverse after being chewed out by Linderman and Pollock. This was used after early 1877. (According to Linderman, Barber failed to get the Boss' approval to use the new hub.)

Why is stacking so critical ?  If you high-relief on 1 side, that's just as bad as doing it on 2 sides for stacking purposes, right ?