New Camera Settings

As a very casual photer, I had requested advice from the forum and other friend on what worked for them and what are the key ingredients to getting good pictures with out spending the huge amount of dollars and not having a camera with so many adjustable settings you can't figure it out any way...
Thanks to Super Dave, Russ and Messy desk, John B. they gave me the basic info of the must know settings most cameras have and what they do, or I should say how it effects the coins picture final out come.. it should be noted that copper and silver coins have different reflectivity so the lighting...OH did I say lighting? lighting lighting and then lighting is one of the most important aspects...
Some general rules I found apply, the CLF weather 5000k or 6500K results depend on the camera, originally I started with 6500K and the light was so bright it didn't allow me to get any decent photo's until I learned the camera's functions and if they could take advantage of it...I dropped to 5000k mid daylight, and blocked off all other lighting (window and computer monitor ect) which gave me a fixed lighting source to play and improve or adjust upon...I used only one coin in all attempts so I could see any changes...However the changes one will see is what the camera tells you it sees...my meaning is the F (f2, 2.8 4.0 and with some cameras f16)number and the shutter speed or 1/40 vs 1/400 to 1/1500 frame rates, what you actually get depends on the camera and the settings so in general you want at least 1/250 or higher...
the second thing is the ISO you can choose with the camera.. will ultamately determine the best frame rates you night get with the settings you have available.. My camera has the abillity to got to ISO 3200 with frame rates of 1/1500 yet I could not capture the coin...it must be noted the coin is a different monster than a fly as it can reflect the light back at you so it FUBAR's your results..Some advice recomemded as I was having some luck with ISO 200 to drop to ISO 100, and experiment with the light settings which were "spot" "centered metering" and evaluate which took some time to figure out how to use this setting with my camera, it was easier on my older camera...
The next issue is the Macro setting.. at first I set it to macro and just focus but I had no real results. it seams most new cameras Macro settings are also effected by the other options you choose instead of just chosing macro and go from there...its a hit or miss but with pen in hand you can plot your changes and see what the differences if any will imply...
The initial problems when I started were, detail of the coin, the coins true colors VS what it thinks it looks like
field of focus which means most of the coin looked good but not the whole coin..all of these things are due to the settings which you have to work and experiment with to find out a working platform so you only have small adjustments to take after these main points aquire regular results you can count on and dial in from there for your specific coin type..These shots are from very simiarl settings yet small adjustments to try and fine tune for silver dollars, although I don't find them mouth watering as the DSLR cameras can be I think I am happy with the results and will work on improving them...the are taken from a tripod, at about 6 inches from the coin, lights within 10 inches left and right...












All in all I think the overall detail of the whole coin and the color have been captured...I welcome your comments