Hugues, I've always been impressed by the photos of your coins. Any time I take a picture of my coins, I'm lucky if the date is clear; I'd never dream of getting the kind of detail and color you get with every shot. I've picked up a piece or two from you in the past and hope to do so again in the future.
Thanks for taking the time to better explain your views Hughes. I also have found a few dollars with very similar blues and red colours like some of your super ones.
I have also received a few with "questionable color" from PCGS...and a few others that look the same to me but they came back as 65's and 66's.. (thank God) ..so go figure..and they all came from the same collection..and were keep the same way..(I was told)
Maybe they had different graders doing so many at one time..
Most of mine were bought back in the 70's and 80's and many came from paper envelopes which were included with the clear open flips that the coins were sold in..Norweb envelopes were included and I should still have them somewhere..but most were not Norweb. The Norweb's had a deep greenish blue on many of his coins..
..and most were graded as gems of choice coins.. No ICCS then..
I'll pass them over to a few knowledgeable people and get some expert feedback..
That specific dollar came from a set I bought on ebay and still inside its plastic holder within the set book. So I am convince it's 100% natural toning.
For the silver maple leaf, yes PCGS slab it. In fact, except the 8 I mentioned previously, all the other 40 coins were slab by PCGS.
The silver maple leaf was still inside the plastic film when I bought it from ebay. They were few cut on the film and I suspect it's the cause of that toning. See image of the coin before I cut it from the film.
I was not aware of the 1c 1936 and was thinking it came from the paper roll. I have no experience with photochemical alteration and any alteration. That's what part of the reason I sent that lot to be certified and also I share on line so I can learn and have other learn at the same time. The 1c 1936 is part on my personal collection and was never for sale. Still keep it but would need to look at it more closely.
Surprisingly, PCGS overall grading was lower than ICCS. I will post in a separate topics listing the delta result I got. Some was -2, other were +2.5 but on average PCGS graded lower than ICCS. I even select coins I was open to get bump-up. I guess I need to get a course of PCGS grading. I heard they look at high-point contrary to ICCS focusing on the field. PCGS nor ICCS would higher me as a grader, that's for sure.
@NumisCat I don't do post-processing. Only crop and adjust highlight to remove holder plastic reflexion.
And most of the photos look the same as when I look at the coin through the viewfinder of the camera. My camera, the Nikon D800 and most SLR allow the photographer to see the object directly through the lens-mirror and prism within the viewfinder. This is direct image before taking the picture and without any digital influence. So most of my photos are really close to the real coins. But since it's a skill not widely available in our coins community, it may influence people thinking that most of my coins are AT (which few are as we learn from that lot).
The 1977 SILVER $1 photo I posted recently is directly the file from the camera without any change or any processing, not even cropping.
I even decrease the saturation on occasion because I feel people will think, it's not possible.
From my experience, single light is the best way to photograph and look at the coin. Toning appearance change from the angle you look at it. And if you add another source of light (which will have a different angle) it will burnt to white some of the main toning you were looking at. Even when I look at my coin, I do in a dark room with a single Halogen light from the celling. Then, it's very close of the photo I took. But if the coin is in an ICCS holder (2 layers of plastic), it will be difficult to get the same look compare to the photo I took before having the coin graded and slab.
For some coin, I cut the ICCS holder, take photo and then send back to be re-hold (I provide the previous holder). It may a big difference in the photo.
@Paulsz No worry Paul. I understand that and my previous post explain more about it. And I know that people may have difficulty to see the same toning from the coin in hand than from my photos. But the fact is, the photo is very close to reality but it's difficult to have everybody been able to look at toned coin the proper way as it's not easy. And in many case, the photo was taken before been slab which make impossible to see the same colour afterward.
I will have some on ebay under HuguesGervais ( ebay ID).
See 2 video taken from toned coin including the Maple Silver. And video is very difficult to modify and all my video are taken directly from the camera without any modification. I use the same setup for video than for photo. And photo look similar to image from the video which confirm to me that the photo really represent the coin colour and look.
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@skelly423 Thanks you for your comment. I try my best and my years of photography experience is helping. Also, I am an electronic engineer which make easy to work around the physics of photography. My real job is selling fingerprint scanners and I travel a lot around the world (so far visited 103 countries). Below you can see photos taken over the years: https://hugues-gervais.smugmug.com/Travel
Even for my travel photography, I don't use filter nor did I post process them. Only crop and adjust shadow/highlight.
Good technic and equipment (not cheap) help taking good coin photo.
@Percy I don't really know since I never have a coin toned during the time I own it. Most coins I bought are already slab except the silver $1 1971 ane above.
I read and hear that sulphur within the velvet, carton and cloth increase the oxidation. That's why there are so many 1971/72/73 dollar nicely toned, all stored in the red velvet. Same for 1967 set. Also, many proof-like set (before the plastic oil was use) have deep toning because of the white carton holder. See these 2 lots from TCNC auction. I try to buy it but I was outbid. https://auctions.canadiancoinsandpa...ion/87/lot/1 https://auctions.canadiancoinsandpa...ion/87/lot/2
We see the toning is stronger for the 10c and 25c because coins are smaller than 50c/$1 so toning cover the entire coin. Also, been less thickness there is more air coming in and interact with the carton.
Here is another example of coins that would look AT not knowing the history. I bought the set still sealed in the plastic film but with minor cut in it. I pay a small premium but not enough to justify someone to get the trouble to accelerate the toning. I can't explain why it toned like that. I guess, if left by a window with sun over many years, the cut allow oxydation coming from specific direction. These sets are typically display at dealer store by the window. Again, just my guess.
If I show the single coin photo to many people, most will say AT (including myself) but the fact it's still inside the film make 99.9% as NT.
They sold quickly when I list them on ebay and I am sure PCGS would tag them as questionable colour.
Hugues, I have purchased coins from you and am very happy with them. Thank you for this thread, I have found it very interesting. Also, the pictures you have taken on your travels are incredible!
I don't collect Canadian coins, but this thread has been fascinating and instructive. Thanks for sharing your photography set up to bring out an accurate depiction of the toning. And I agree your travel photos are outstanding!
@SPP-Ottawa I was thinking you were talking about the 1977 $1 I just posted. But now I realized you were talking about the 1973 PEI from initial LARGE posting (which is blue). My mistake.
And I agree with you, it's nickel and cannot tone like that. I didn't realized that coin was nickel when I bought it. I was thinking it was silver. Now it make sense PCGS didn't slab it. 25 USD grading fee lost because of my ignorance.
Below is the details when I bought it on ebay to be sure people don't think I tone it myself.
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Posted 10/05/2017 09:33 am
