Axial Lighting Vs Light Box

I've taken pictures through slabs with the coin tilted at an angle to get basically the same lighting effect as axial lighting.



I use levels in Photoshop to remove the glare (which is actually an out-of-focus reflection of the light source, which in my case is diffused with a sheet of paper towel taped to a lamp).

I think the end result is OK considering the frugality of my setup, but I think it could be better obviously. And, of course, axial lighting would be better because the coin would be flat and in focus, but it's an idea of how to deal with the glare.

I've struggled to get any result at all with darker coins, so it might not work well with copper.

Axial lighting is the most glare-prone method of lighting. You might try some of my "smile directors" mounted on Jansjos. I get good results with slabbed or raw coins using them...Ray