Nikon Coolpix L830

Scurry, I'll have to check around for a good tutorial video series.
I've used the program for 15 years, and I burned through a bunch of books to learn.

Sure--I'll take a look and get back to you.

Well...I'll just say that I'm fine-tuning the colors in my photos with all of Photoshop at my disposal--I've used this program professionally for over a decade. My steps may look complicated, but I do them quickly.

The most powerful colorspace for color-correction is LAB. It's sorta a technical book, but I can recommend "Photoshop LAB Color: The Canyon Conundrum and Other Adventures in the Most Powerful Colorspace". But that's not a good book to learn Photoshop--I'll dig up the others I've used later.

Thanks. I ordered Adobe's Classroom in a Book from Amazon last night.

I think the luster on your last picture is better!
One thing I noticed when I took a look at the image, the highlights are still blown out.
Perhaps this is a contrast setting on your camera, that you can adjust?
I guess it's a matter of taste whether you want the highlights toned down, but here's a way to do it:
Under the File menu, "Open the image as Camera RAW", which will generate the Adobe Camera Raw, which generates a window with these sliders.
Below is the settings I used to tone back the highlights and up the exposure slightly to bring out luster:
The ACR window gives me a lot of flexibility to adjust the tonal range, exposure, and white balance.



Here is my result...you can see there are slightly less areas blown out to white on Lincoln:

Oh--I should have clarified on the background. I simply used the marquee tool to create a mask around the coin, with an white layer beneath the coin layer. It's a very quick process, and perfect for coin shots. You'll find it in your book under working with layers and masks. Happy to help--got any other questions on Photoshop, post away!

Thanks Scopper. I'll keep at it.

Well...your new pics are a huge improvement over the first. With better lighting, you've managed to downplay the surface marks and die lines common on MS 70-S small dates.

Regarding your last shot, it still looks fairly contrasty--but it all depends on the "look" you're trying to achieve. There's a subjective side to this.
Perhaps if you post some pics of BU Lincoln cents that have the lighting/appearance you want--we can suggest how you might achieve that?

I can offer some advice from a technical perspective on your last shot--using the "histogram" window in Photoshop.
Photoshop's Histogram shows the distribution of pixel brightness from deepest shadows (black on far left) to brightest highlights (white on far right)
Below, figure "A" is the histogram of your last shot of the LMC. This shows an unfavorable distribution of pixels in the image.
The white arrow points to a large number of pixels pushed up against the far end--or, white pixels lacking any detail.
Secondly, there are fewer pixels in the upper midtones (black arrow) which are usually areas of interest for the eye, making a pleasing photo.


These are technical details which help eye appeal. It's mainly due to lighting and secondly: contrast settings on the camera.

Compare figure A to figure B--the histogram of a photo of a copper coin of mine. Notice how most pixels are distributed in the midtones (center), with very few pixels pushed to the far right (white)? Technically speaking, this is more of what you want to achieve in your photo.

Finally, compare figure A to figure C--which is where I adjusted the brightness/contrast settings of your last photo to create a better distribution of pixels. In other words--there are more mid-tone details with less dark shadows and fewer pixels blown out to white.

The last picture shows how the coin looks after I applied the changes shown in figure C. Note: I only adjusted brightness, not color.
Technically speaking, the contrast range is better--but you will develop your own technique and "look" to your photos.