I am a coin collector. One of the things coin collectors love to do is show their coins off to other collectors, family, friends, and anyone else we can find who is interested (or even feigns moderate interest). At first the only way to display our prize possessions was to corner our hapless victim in a hallway or room and pull coin after coin out of our pocket and point, “Look here, look here! A proof Morgan 1878 7 Tail Feather variety. There are only 7 feathers in the eagle’s tail, look look look. Only 750 ever minted!”

To a coin nut like me that would be an exciting coin to actually see and hold. However for the average Joe on the street a silver dollar is a silver dollar is a silver dollar and they roll their eyes and mutter “how stupid” when you tell them that you paid $950.00 for a single coin. It would even be worse if the variety or error was a small part of a small coin. But never fear, the intrepid coin collector ALWAYS carries a jeweler’s loupe for just such an emergency. Now, no matter how small the smudge, ding, or spur, the collector will spend a half an hour teaching you how to use a jeweler’s loupe in order to properly appreciate the spectacle.

Finally our prey realizes the only way to appease our obviously weird and unhealthy fascination with small shiny objects is to say, “I see it, how very interesting.” Even though their voice is dripping with sarcasm we buy every word of it and prance away full of self satisfaction that we brought another person into the hobby. Numismatics Anonymous rarely works.

The coming of inexpensive camera equipment in the 1970s allowed a new level of freedom in the hobby. Collectors of even modest means could photograph their most prized and valued specimens and study the photographs of other collectors not just to turn green with envy but learn what actually constitutes certain varieties, errors, damage, etc. Some pieces are so rare that only a dozen or so people in the world have ever looked upon it. The high resolution possible from film photography allowed the rarest of the rare to be admired and studied in detail by the general hobbiest.

But the initial expense of the 35mm equipment was still beyond many collectors who would rather spend the money on a better grade specimen of coin. Jump forward a few years and the development of the internet and usenet groups such as rec.collecting.coins (RCC) the pictures and discussions that were limited to books in huge volumes could be seen and contributed by anyone with a computer.

The ability to scan those photographs soon came within reach of the average numismatist. Online a hobbiest could contribute his entire photographic library to the numismatic community, receive feedback (along with praise). As digital cameras became more and more affordable the collector soon discovered that rather than be a continual consumer of coins he could become a retail source of coins and scripophily. Our newly minted coin dealer could now “play with the big boys” through such online venues as Ebay, Yahoo! Auctions, and direct selling.

Fantastic images of wonderful coins can be found almost everywhere. Even small details can be seen with the macro mode on most digital cameras. But what if the detail is still too small even for this modern set up? What if the coin is a 1972 DDO Lincoln Cent type III that has very small doubling in the motto? In comes the age old jewelers loupe to the rescue. In macro mode, and with the help of the loupe, even the most modestly priced digital camera can take very good high detail pictures.

Here is a 2001 Lincoln Cent shot through a 10x loupe (you can click on each image for a larger view).

Notice something strange about this coin? The date looks like 200 not 2001. This is called a Filled Die Error. The machinery at the mint that cranks out thousands of coins per hour day after day requires a lot of grease to function properly. Sometimes that grease fills in portions of the die that strikes the coins, in this case, the “1″ in 2001.

Here is a closer look.

All I did was kick up the zoom level on the camera and zoom through the loupe!

(At different viewing angles the “1″ in 2001 can be faintly seen.) But now to show that this camera rig is inexpensive and easy to set up, here it is on my dining room table/light stage.

Notice the camera is missing, I had to use something to take the picture.

Well, there it is, a piece of history helping out the technology of today. Hope you like this tip and hope it helps you in your photography.