1982 Small Date - Rarity?

Don't forget to check out coopercoins.com for the special varieties for this date.

Hi Sandy - I think you'll eventually see what I've seen here regarding the 1982 varieties. Geographical location seems to determine which variety is least/more common. For me, the 1982 D LD/zinc is the most difficult to find. I've only found 5 or so. But some folks here find these more often than any other Denver minted specimen. It's interesting. You'll also notice that this occurs for other variety coins, such as the WAMs.

Regarding photo taking, I have a nice camera, tripod, and small photo box, but I never use it. Instead, I predominantly use my iPhone for full coin shots and taking close-up pictures with it through my AmScope eye piece. The trick is to keep the camera/phone very steady. To do this, I use a heavy object to steady the camera and this object needs to be at or about the optimal focal length for the phone camera. Use the zoom to make up the difference and try to fill the shot with your specimen coin. Use a flat/blank background for your shot. Busy backdrops (newsprint, finger tips) can play havoc on the autofocus so avoid this if possible. Lighting is essential and optimal lighting at that. Too little/too much and your shot may be worthless. Use diffusers to achieve optimal lighting (e.g. coop uses a plastic bag from the grocery store). Adjust your coin to catch the light as you need to; the goal is to get your detail/device lit up just right for the picture. And practice, practice, practice. Folks here have been able to pull off great shots with inexpensive setups. For me, this is half of the fun.

Optimization is a word not often used here in the West. We tend to Maximize everything, often to the detriment of what it is we are trying to achieve. Go slow and have fun and do more with less. Good luck to you and feel free to drop your questions with the members here. We are here to help if we can.

Hi Sandy,

My AmScope is a rather basic unit. Initially I planned on getting something more expensive (I've been spoiled most of my life being around very expensive inspection equipment) but this would have been a mistake. Essentially I do 95% of my microscope work at 20X. If I need to concentrate on a split serif, or minor doubling of some kind, I might bump it up to 40X, but very seldom. With regard my iPhone, I set up about 3" above the coin I'm shooting using a small tin can of that height filled with quarters. Resting the phone on that can, I steady the camera at a decent focal length using the zoom feature only to the extent that I fill the shot in the viewing screen. After that, I send the photo to my computer where I open it using the Microsoft picture editing tools to adjust brightness, contrast, color, and field of view (cropping tool). You can sometimes correct for some lighting overages if not too wildly bright to begin with.

I think a photobox is a great idea. If I get a chance, I'll take some pictures of various 'experimental' devices I've used to create the 'perfect' picture. I really enjoy the challenge...but not when I'm excited about a find and running up against the bedtime hour...which it is right now.