Panasonic Dmc-Fh8 And Reflections On Proofs Etc.

I am new to shooting photos in macro mode though my dad is fairly versed in it as a non-paid professional photographer but he has never had to effectively 'shoot mirrors'.

I am using a DMC-FH8 camera as it seemed to be reasonable macro mode for the price. Its a 16 mega pixel with optical and digital zoom though it only shoots in jpg not raw. It has some manual control features but I dont know enough about them off hand to know how they would affect the options. I'll be consulting with my dad at the same time as any help from you guys but he is short on time due to work and hasnt had a chance to read the full deal on my camera.

How do you keep the reflective surfaces of the coin from having the reflection of the camera itself in it? I was able to get rid of outside reflections by placing black cardboard next to the camera but the camera itself still reflects.

We tried doing an offset, taking a picture where the camera itself is out of the reflection but I noticed that sometimes the white balance goes screwy because of the fact that the 'main focus' is actually the white cardboard of the 2x2 flip and not the coin itself. I had the two sides of my 1897 British Penny come out completely different white balances because of this.

Ideas? Its not a snazzy camera that takes lenses but my dad said that getting into that range can add a couple hundred dollars to the purcahse to do it right.

I am extremely happy with the shots that I get on coins that are not reflective its just like for example the deep cameo proof 1976 Ike dollar I bought myself for my birthday year is so mirror finish I might as well be taking a picture of the camera instead of the coin lol.

Thanks as allways! :D