Was Given An Old Scanner Yesterday...

Good images. I will have to try my scanner to see what I get.

P.S. I really like the first Diocletian and the second Mazimianus

I was quite surprised about scanning coins as well. When someone said he scanned the coins, I was like really, you can do that? lol

And then I set up my very rarely used all in one printer/scanner/fax/media card reader and started using the scanner. It's so much better than the setup I was using with my webcam.

Even though a scanner was better than the setup I had with my webcam. Sometimes the coins look right on and sometimes they don't. As I explained in a earlier post with the Constans coin I purchased from FORVM.

I use the 2x2 size setting with my ancient $10 Epson scanner, and it gives me the "perfect" size for a coin. Sometimes I have to tweak the color, contrast, and light balances to produce a viewable coin - as with my avatar coin, for example. I agree - don't spend a lot of $ for a new scanner when an old one will do the job just fine. Software is key, however - make sure you get the install CD with it, or at least can download the software.

I noted several years ago that scanners that were very thin tended to do a poor job with coins while heavier, thick bodied scanners did better. I have no experience with the current fad of all in one scanner/copier/fax units. Scanners that do poorly seem to have no depth of field making the small difference between the parts of the coin touching the glass and the recesses significant while all parts were in focus on the thick scanners.

The problem with scanners s that you have little control with the lighting when it is desirable to change it for a specific coin. It does sometimes help to scan the coin upside down and rotate the image in software. My current (but several years old Canon scanner) benefits from this. It has to do with the relative position of the pickup and light source which is different with each model. How your coins compare 'in hand' to on the image depaends a lot on what light you use to view the coins 'in hand'. I find I enjoy coins more if I take the time and trouble to use a good light for viewing rather than just accepting whatever light happens to be on at the moment. If I buy a coin from you, it may not look exactly the same at my house as it did at yours.

Those using a scanner might also want to try scanning with the lid open and all lights out in the room. That gives a black background. My page on scanning dates to 1997 and may not have much value anymore. I almost never scan anymore because I value being able to adjust light angles and qualities so I have not kept up with the subject. Below is one of the better direct scans I did back in the day. It is a bronze of Septimius Severus from Caesarea.

I don't collect ancients but those sure are nice looking coins and a great image from a scanner.

I have heard that scanners do a better job on circulated and/or toned coins than coins with a lot of luster as the luster gets lost in scan process. But it seems like this makes ancients a good candidate for scans as your images show.