Photographed Some Old Coins - Braided Hair Cent, Morgan Dollar, & Saint (part 4)

[astrostu]

Just 3 coins on this thread. They're the only ones - other than those that I've been deliberately collecting in sets - that I have slabbed. Each one is very different and kinda represents a different part of collecting or an important part of my life.

 

First is a kinda unremarkable 1847 braided hair large cent. It was my first large cent coin, and my only one that's not AG. I was given it in 6th grade in the very early days of the internet (1994-95). The way I remember it is that my dad had just started to explore online auctions (we had just gotten AOL the year before, when I was in 5th grade ... something I remember because I had just done a report on roller coasters so my screenname was rollerc).

 

He won this for me (without me knowing) and gave it to me as a present. This was when I really had just started to collect coins, and it was my first "expensive" coin, and it was also my first exposure to large cents. I found it really weird that the cent had looked so different before, and it made me want to learn more about how our coins have changed through the centuries.

 

I should note that photographing this coin can best be described with an adjective that this forum won't let me use. Suffice to say, the slab is incredibly scratched up and it was very difficult to remove glare and scratches in processing. I gave it my best while still maintaining the actual integrity of the photo to not mis-represent the coin.

 

 

 

Rather than go in year or dollar or denomination order, I'm going by when I got the coins. Hence this next example. I turned 13 and, being Jewish, I "should" have had a bar mitzvah. But I've never been to temple, don't speak a lick of Hebrew, and so there was no bar mitzvah to be had. However, my parents apparently did consider it an important birthday and I had figured out a month or two before-hand that they were planning on buying me a high-budget coin. This was because I found my coin price guide laying in my mom's work area, and when I asked her about it she said she was looking at the prices of some coins. Being a remarkably bright child and knowing that my mom doesn't know anything about coins nor the first thing about collecting them, I connected a few dots.

 

Then I did something "bad" and it was taken away before it was bought, or so I thought. We were getting in the car to go to dinner that night (Skyline Chili!!! (any Cincinnatians, here?)) to celebrate my birthday, and we were half-way there when my dad told me to look in the seat pocket in front of me. I felt around and pulled out a slab. My first and (so-far) only pre-1933 gold coin, a 1914-D Saint.

 

 

 

This coin came during a time when I had no goal in mind for collecting. I would go to the local coin store every few weekends and look at what he had and buy what I liked that was within my budget. I found this coin, and it would become my first Morgan dollar that wasn't VF or less (I still have less than a half dozen Morgans ... give it time). It was interesting because it had toning that I actually liked, and it was my introduction to what a "DMPL" coin was and what that did to the price (he added $20 to it). I still like the coin, and I should note that the scratches are slightly less pronounced on the actual coin than they appear on the photo. That was a factor of the lighting I used to bring out the great luster.

 

 

[astrostu]

P.S. I've seen a log of gorgeous photos of Morgans on this site. Any comments on how I can improve my photos is greatly appreciated.

[Just Bob]

Good pics and stories.

[glenashley-migration]

I have been away for a while. You know what they say... life gets in the way. But coming back to the forums and stumbling across these stunning photos has definitely caught my attention! Fantastic photos astrostu. Phenomenal. Any chance on getting some insight on how you do it? The post production is great. But the lighting and detail is where I need some assistance. At any rate I have greatly enjoyed reading your threads and looking at the photos.

[RI AL]

astrostu warning... another RI AL post

 

Enjoyed the pix and stories. Boy, can I relate to the no Bar-Mitzva story. My oldest brother endured his, my middle brother did the hebrew school thing but me, being the youngest (and probably because my parents just shook their heads in dismay thinking I'll never survive THAT ordeal), I escaped completely. In an funny, not funny way, at both my dad's and mom's funerals, we did the jewish thing...but since I spoke no Hebrew (and my brothers had forgotten theirs) the rabbi gave us "phonetic pronunciation charts" for the prayers. None of us had any idea what we were saying at the services...but we did a damn good job saying it and the Rabbi was happy. 8 years ago, I was asked to speak at my cousin's son's bar mitzvah...in Hebrew...OH ! Good thing they had a pronunciation chart for that too. I have no idea what I said about the guy...but my cousin and I are still speaking so it couldn't have been ALL bad.

 

Now, my coin story. In 7th grade (we were still doing cave paintings) I was still bitten badly by the coin bug (since age 7) and one day in chorus class, in walks this kid with the coin pictured below. If I recall correctly, he wanted 75 cents for it (back in 1963). I didn't have the 75 cents, but had to babysit my neighbors 2 sets of identical twins (!) that night at 75 cents an hour. Next morning in chorus class, the deed was done. She became mine. I had it ANACS'ed much later but never wanted to upgrade because of the sentiment. I have no idea where the kid got the coin, but I picked up a few others from him...most of which are long gone. I expect that he was raiding his father's coin collection but I never asked.The 1812 cent stayed with me for...must be 46 years. RI AL

 

Oh, by the way, those ARE fantastic pictures, astrostu.

[physics-fan3.14]

Enjoyed the pix and stories. Boy, can I relate to the no Bar-Mitzva story. My oldest brother endured his, my middle brother did the hebrew school thing but me, being the youngest (and probably because my parents just shook their heads in dismay thinking I'll never survive THAT ordeal), I escaped completely.

 

Mom was raised Catholic and always tells horror stories about the nuns and confirmation and Communion and such. Luckily I was raised Protestant and didn't have to worry about any of that.

[RI AL]

Lucky you, Physics. I don't think you would look so hot in a habit...

[physics-fan3.14]

Lucky you, Physics. I don't think you would look so hot in a habit...

 

Alright, that made me laugh.

[wtc911coins]

Great story about the coins love the way you make your pictures

[astrostu]

I wanted to thank everyone for the compliments and comments ... before I post a part 5. I also liked thinking back to when/how I obtained the coins, kinda puts things into perspective.

 

Any chance on getting some insight on how you do it? The post production is great. But the lighting and detail is where I need some assistance.

 

Actually, very differently (I think) than many people do it. Most here recommend 2-4 light sources when photographing the coins. I only use one, and it's a bright external (though mounted) camera flash. For proofs (not in this thread, but others), I aim the flash away from the coin and that helps to darken the fields.

 

For the business-strikes (as posted here), the flash was aimed "above" the coin -- as in, if the camera is aimed straight down (-90°) and for proofs the flash was straight up (+90°), I aimed the flash for these around -30°. In addition, I used parchment paper (white, not the brown/tan stuff -- you can get it where you get plastic wrap and aluminum foil at the grocery store) surrounding the coin to diffuse the flash a little. It takes some experimentation and I'm still working on it a little to get the look I like ... but I have to admit, I love the way that Morgan came out.

 

In post-processing, I try to adjust the color temperature to get the white paper that I have the coin/holder sitting on to actually be white. I use that as the basis for the color correction. I decrease the magenta saturation because my particular camera adds a magenta glow around every saturated (highly reflective) part of the coin. I desaturate the color in general a little because then when I adjust the curves to add some contrast, it enhances the color (so I even it out). Then it's just some effects like duplicating the image, flipping it, adding a black-to-clear gradient, adding some feathered circles for the "table" and shadows, and then the text. Photoshop Actions are now my new favorite thing.