Time To Try And Upgrade My Skills

I'm guessing with your Nikon you're running afoul of the lighting difficulties caused by having to place the camera too close to the coin for the usual lighting rules to apply. This is best illustrated by the first Morgan and the Nickel, which are losing the bottom of the coin.

How far are you setting the camera from the coin, and where are the lights positioned? You might benefit from placing them wider than the usual "10 and 2" placement we recommend.

I don't generally recommend lightboxes but your situation might make one worth trying. Your camera is getting nice sharp images - don't really want to talk you into messing with settings - so let's work on lighting first and foremost. This is the tradeoff with inexpensive point-and-shoots; you can coax good results from them but the "sweet spot" is small and sometimes hard to find.

I tried a few shots with the lighting at 9 - 3 and got similar results. It seems to my untrained eye that I'm losing the lower portion of the coin on higher luster examples, while the ones that have toning or less luster, circulation come through pretty clear. I've used a 3 light setup before to illuminate the bottom part of the coin, it's worked ok...but my third light comes off a bit cool compared to the jansjo's....go figure its the old version of the jansjo....one that ikea pulled for being a fire hazard....hmmmm maybe I should toss it and just take a trip and pick me up another one. I would rather master the 2 light process....that 3rd light is a pain and gets in the way.