Canon Macro Lenses

I have the T1i and it came with the factory lens and a 50mm lens when I bought it and here are pictures with the 50mm and the 100mm I purchased about a week later
50mm


100mm


in my opinion the 50mm is not much better than the factory 18-55mm lens so I really can't suggest it over the factory lens for coin pictures. You will need a tripod or something to get quite a distance away on a large coin like a Morgan with the 100mm lens because it will not fit in the view finder if you don't. I didn't take any pictures with the factory lens when I took these two but I am guessing you probably would not have been able to tell the difference between the factory and the 50mm lens by the pictures

Absolutely, unless the lens is such dreck that it introduces noticeable chromatic aberrations.

There are, as I've learned recently, a couple of specialized lenses out there which exceed the 100mm Macro in the narrow niche of coin photography. I still recommend it as the macro lens of choice if your camera says "Canon" on it; if you're going to drop $500+ on a lens, get something you'll be able to use in multiple circumstances.

The 18-55 can be made to work. I believe you'll like it best at around 50mm and f/8. Make friends with Sharpening and Contrast in postprocessing, and you should be happy with the result.

Like so, done with the same lens and processing I mentioned:

That's a *great* shot. I'm posting from my phone, so I can't see it all at once, but I see nothing that minor postprocessing won't fix.