This BN 2 cent piece just refuses to be photographed.

[DonHeath]

Man, the camera doesn't like this coin. If I properly capture detail, the luster disappears. Getting the color to match the coin in hand took forever. I ended up with three pics, which taken together properly characterize the coin. The first pic simply shows luster and color. The coin has decent luster, and is mostly brown with flecks of red. It is a nice smooth planchet, with a decent, centered strike, and perfect rims and dentils. The shield is clean. I have nothing but admiration for those who can coax great photos from brown copper.

 

[Leothelion]

Very nice strike and detail! Nices pics too! I have little experience and success for that matter, photographing brown copper coins. I imagine, the darker the coin, the less the surfaces can reflect light into the camera.

 

Leo

[airplanenut]

Brown copper's tricky... I'll give you that

[cpm9ball]

Very nice coin, Don. Maybe Jeremy Katz, aka airplanenut, can give you some suggestions. For such a young whippersnapper preparing to attend MIT, he's really good with the camera.

 

Chris

 

Darn, he beat me to it! C'mon, Jer, I know you can do better than that.

[DonHeath]

Thanks guys, and yes, Jeremys pics are excellent. I'm sitting here looking at the coin, and I'm still frustrated with my pics. The red speckled fields really fool the camera. They tend to look like ticks.Its a fun Sunday afternoon project.Think I'll have to make a diffuser. Take away the lamps and the "look" of the coin becomes apparent, although the light's too low to capture detail. The lamps make the surface look dry and dead. Maybe later.

 

[TomB]

I think your first image likely reflects the feel of the coin better than any other of the images. If so, I like your coin very much.

[Leothelion]

One of the neatest little lighting system that I've ever came across was a macro light that would screw right onto the lens of the camera. I was able to try one out from a local camera shop in my area. It would take well lit pictures but the donut-like flourescent light would totally wipe out all the tiny shadows, eliminating the 3-D effect, that IMO was needed for the pictures. The device was returned and it was back to the drawing board again.

 

Leo

[Hoot]

looks like a great piece, Don. Lighting angles and filering should do the same trick as holding the coin at an angle to the lens - all in the light. Good luck and I look forward to more pics!

 

Hoot

[TonerGuy]

Try high vertical lighting with very strong bulbs! Use 4 lamps with Sylvania 70 watt halogens and it'll pick up the color and the luster of the RD underneath --

 

Heres a BN with color --

 

 

Hope that helps!

 

Michael

[chinook]

I use 2 OTT lights which I think really do show the real color. I think the problem with your coin is that it needs to be severely tilted to bring out the color. It is then very difficult to get that color to reflect back into the camera lens.

[DonHeath]

Thanks all. Michael, nice pic and tip.