Are Cheap ($20 Or Less) USB Microscopes Any Good For Photographing Coins?

Edited the above image to show he just need some software. Seems I can use part of his name.

My Celestron is the 44300 a really old model, only trouble is it has a quite hard to turn (very stiff) focus barrel. They fixed that issue in all of them since Mine is a 2003-2005 era if I recall. I was a reseller and my buddy that worked for me is now their VP of US Sales at Celestron. They do make great products, I have a big telescope from them as well. I find getting the model from the year previous can save you a lot like 70% off or more. I've always heard good things about the AmScopes as well.

To get that edited look if you use Photoshop at least, try to get the basics down and then you can save the settings as a droplet or action and apply it to all the same types of photos at once for color temp/tint and contrast corrections. I have separate settings for copper, silver and gold. Super easy to apply to a bunch of images and go grab a coffee while it works it's magic in the background, plus the color is consistent that way from image to image.

Richard and Ray both hit the key points to getting the best edits you can. I, like Ray, also start with lowered contrast and exposure to start with in my photos USB and DSLR.