Taking high-quality photos of rare coins to sell or auction is a time-intensive task that requires finding a perfect balance between a light source, the camera, and the coin’s surface to achieve an accurate depiction of the coin’s unique features. Nowadays, phone cameras are outfitted with many of the same settings as DSLR cameras, and it’s only natural to wonder if they possess a comparable ability to photograph coins.
You can easily take high-quality photographs of coins using a phone camera. if you follow the necessary steps and suggestions outlined below:
- Choose the Right Background for the Coin
- Choose Your Photo Angle
- Position and Secure Your Phone
- Choose the Most Effective Lighting
- Consider Going Macro
- Use Your Phone Settings to Your Advantage
- Handle Your Coins with Care
Whether you’re selling coins or simply enjoying photographing your rare coin collection as a hobby, you can develop sharp and distinctive photos of any coin using the elements and settings provided on your phone’s camera. If you’re looking to experiment with photographing coins with your camera phone, follow the steps and techniques outlined below to ensure that you are getting the highest-quality images.
How do I Take a Quality Photo of a Coin on My Phone?
Taking the perfect photo of a coin with a camera phone takes a considerable amount of adjustment and fine-tuning. You may have to do multiple photography sessions and take dozens of photos before you get the one that perfectly highlights your coin. The detailed instructions below will give you important tips on how to set up your phone camera and lighting sources to get optimal photos.
Choose the Right Background for Your Coin
When photographing a coin for appraisal or to sell, there should be absolutely no distraction in the background of the photo. In general, a pristine white background will work perfectly to highlight a coin. This can be anything from an opaque sheet of white paper to an illuminated flat panel. While a white background is a good starting point, other solid background colors can also work well. Experiment with different options to see, which makes your coin stand out best.
Choose Your Photo Angle
Once you’ve placed your coin on the appropriate background, you need to properly position your phone to take the clearest possible photo of your coin. Depending on the condition of your coin and your experience with coin photography, you will want to adjust the angle of your phone camera. Here are some basic guidelines for setting up the perfect camera angle for photographing your coin.
- Photograph Older Coins from Directly Above
- Photograph Newer Coins at a Slight Angle
- Always Get a Close-Up of Both Sides of the Coin
- Photograph from the Side for Authentication
Photograph Older Coins from Directly Above
If you’re photographing an older coin, make sure your phone camera is situated directly above the coin, with the coin resting in the exact center of the frame. Because the embossments on older coins will be more defined than those on newer coins, the direct overhead angle will give you the best contrast.
Photograph Newer Coins at a Slight Angle
If you’re photographing a newer coin, you may want to prop it up at a slight angle to get a better composition of its definition. Newer coins haven’t gone through as much wear as older coins, so their embossments may not stick out against the surface as prominently. Photographing the coin at a slight angle will create better contrast to define the design’s clarity on the coin face.
Always Get a Close-Up of Both Sides of the Coin
If you are planning to get your coin appraised, it is especially important to get close-up photos of both sides of the coin. This can be most successfully done using a macro lens, which will be discussed later on in further detail. In your close-up photos, the coin should be directly centered below your phone camera and take up at least 80% of the frame on a solid background.
Photograph from the Side for Authentication
Another important photograph to capture is the side view of your coin. This will allow potential buyers to see mintmarks and signatures more easily so that they can properly authenticate the coin. These photos are particularly important to have if you’re selling the coin online, as it will allow buyers to trust you as a reliable seller.
Position and Secure Your Phone
Once you’ve chosen the angles from which you will photograph your coin, it’s time to make sure that your phone is placed and secured at the appropriate distance from the coin. Follow these steps to make sure your phone camera is properly placed.
- Find the Appropriate Camera Distance
- Secure and Stabilize Your Phone
Find the Appropriate Camera Distance
When determining how far away your phone should be from your coin, look to your focus settings for guidance. Your phone should be far enough away that the entire coin can fit into the frame but isn’t touching the sides. Once you’ve found the approximate distance, adjust slightly until the coin comes completely into focus.
Secure and Stabilize Your Phone
When photographing coins, your phone must be as secure and stable as possible. The slightest waver or wobble of the camera can distort and blur a coin’s fine lines and make it look lower-quality. The most effective way to secure your phone is to purchase a phone tripod. This will allow you to adjust the camera height as needed while keeping your phone steady. However, any do-it-yourself technique in which the phone is completely secured will work just fine.
Choose the Most Effective Lighting
The most important factor in getting a high-quality coin photo on your phone is the lighting. The type and placement of light sources will significantly impact the quality of your photo, so it’s important to figure out which set-up will work best for your coins before you start photographing. Below is a list of important considerations for light placement and instructions on how to employ some of the more commonly-used lighting techniques in coin photography.
- Amount of Light
- Source of Light
- Angle of Light
- Light Contrast
- Using Axial Lighting
- Alternative Lighting Techniques
Amount of Light
There’s far more to setting up coin photography lighting than just grabbing the nearest table lamp and shooting away. Every coin will require a different amount of light to capture it perfectly. While one soft light may work for certain coins, other coins may require two or three bright lights for the best effect. There’s no written rule about how much light each type of coin needs, so you may have to perform some trial and error before you find the perfect lighting set-up.
Source of Light
Knowing the amount of light needed to capture your coin can help you determine what source the light should come from. There are multiple different light sources that you can experiment with to find what works best. Here are some of the most common light sources used in coin photography:
- Natural (outdoor) Light
- LED Lights
- Halogen Lights
- Soft White Bulbs
- Fluorescent Lights
- OTT Lights
Just as it will take some time to figure out the proper amount of light needed to photograph your coin, it will also take some experimenting to find out which light source works best for your collection and photo requirements. Fortunately, most light sources are relatively inexpensive or can already be found in your own home.
Angle of Light
Perfecting the angle at which the light hits your coin is crucial to accentuating your coin’s detailing and making its unique elements pop. The instructions below will allow you to properly place your light source to get your coin’s highest quality image.
- Angle your light source as high as possible. As you decrease your light source’s angle against the coin, the light will begin to diffuse and soften the contrast of the embossments against the coin’s surface.
- Follow the clock to position your light sources. If you’re using two lights, place them at 10-o’clock and 2-o’clock angles respectively from your phone camera. If you’re using three lights, place them at 9-o’clock, 12 o’clock, and 3-o’clock from the camera.
- Keep lights as close to the camera as possible. The closer the light is to the camera, the sharper your image will come out.
Light Contrast
Another important lighting factor to take into consideration is the contrast, or the degree of difference in tones, in an image. This is particularly important in coin photography, where very small gradations need to be able to stand out against the face of the coin properly. Depending on your coin’s color and luster, you will need to adjust your contrast to get the best possible image. The table below will help you choose the correct contrast setting based on the color and luster of the coin being photographed.
| Coin Color | Contrast Level |
| Dark Copper, little to no luster | Low Contrast |
| Lossy Copper, Red Copper, Red Brown Copper, Mint State Silver/Gold, Lustrous Almost Uncirculated Silver/Gold | Medium Contrast |
| Mint State Silver, Brilliant Proofs, Modern Proofs | High Contrast |
Using Axial Lighting
One of the most commonly-used lighting techniques for coin photography is called Axial Lighting, which involves placing a flat piece glass between the camera, the coin, and the light source. The glass reflects the light source downward onto the face of the coin, thus creating a dramatic overhead lighting effect. Though axial lighting takes a little more time to set up, it’s quite easy to do once you have all of the proper tools. Here is a guide to creating your own DIY axial lighting set-up.
- Set Up Your Phone Camera. Your camera should be directly above your coin, close enough that the coin is taking up the majority of the frame.
- Set Up Your Light Source. For axial lighting, you will only need one light source, set up level with the surface that your coin is on. The light should shine directly across the coin from the side.
- Set Up Your Glass Reflector. Position the glass underneath the camera at a 45° angle to both the camera and the light. Make sure the glass is free of fingerprints and dust.
- Test the Light Reflection. To make sure your glass is reflecting light onto the surface, place a coffee mug on it and look into the bottom. If you see light at the bottom of the mug, the reflector is working. If not, adjust the angle until the light becomes visible.
- Photograph Your Coin. Place your coin on your surface, making sure not to touch the face, and shoot away! The result should be a beautiful, bright, and sharp image of your coin.
Alternative Lighting Techniques
There are plenty of other lighting techniques out there to experiment with when photographing coins with your phone. Here are some of the most common techniques and a brief description of how they work.
- Darkfield Illumination – Multiple directional lights are shown across the coin at a low angle to highlight embossments. Brighter portions of the coin will be darkened, while the darker portions will become illuminated.
- LightBox Photography – Involves surrounding the coin by a tent or box made of translucent material that will diffuse light coming from multiple sources, resulting in a shadow-free photograph
- Dramatic Low-Key Lighting – Highlights the brightness of your coin by setting it against a solid dark background with multiple light sources fully illuminating the coin and background surface.
Remember, it’s your lighting set-up that is going to be the determining factor in the final quality of your coin photos, not the age or quality of the camera phone you’re using. It will take time and patience to figure out what lighting scenario will work best for the coins you plan to photograph, but it will be worth the effort once you’ve gotten your results.
Consider Going Macro
When photographing a coin with a phone, you want to ensure that the camera lens is far enough away from the coin to fit it completely into the frame while still keeping the focus as sharp as possible. This may be difficult to achieve depending on what phone you have and the quality of the camera. Some phones may need to be placed too close to the coin and will cast an unwanted shadow.
One solution to this problem is to use a technique called “macro photography,” or extreme close-up photography. Listed below are some options for using macro photography to get pictures of your coins.
- Purchasing a Macro Lens
- Using a Macro Setting or App
- Using Your Phone Camera’s Zoom Function
Purchasing a Macro Lens
The surest bet for getting quality macro photography of your coin is to purchase a macro lens attachment for your phone. These miniature magnification lenses clip directly onto your phone to effectively turn your camera into a macro lens. They can be a bit pricey, but the quality of your photos will be worth the cost. A macro lens is a great option if you’re looking to sell coins or if coin photography is a longstanding hobby. Listed below are three different macro lens options that will work well for coin photography.
Using a Macro Setting or App
For a more budget-friendly option, consider using your phone’s macro lens setting. If your phone doesn’t have that particular setting, you can also consider downloading a macro lens app. While these apps are generally very low-cost, the quality of the photo will not match up to the macro lens and small details on coins may be distorted or blurred. Unless you’re photographing coins strictly as a hobby, you’ll likely want to defer from choosing this option.
Using Your Phone Camera’s Zoom Function
Almost every phone camera on the market comes with a zoom function, so why not save yourself the time and financial requirements of finding a good macro lens and use what you already have? Unfortunately, you’ll most likely find that using this technique will result in blurred details and a lack of precision in your coin photography. While the zoom function may be appropriate for hobbyists, it most likely won’t make the cut for sellers.
Use Your Phone Settings to Your Advantage
One of the great things about many phone cameras these days is that they possess many of the same camera setting adjustments that a DSLR camera does. It’s important to know which phone camera settings you should use and how to properly adjust them to get the highest quality images of your coins! Here is a list of the phone camera settings that will be most useful to you and how to use them to your advantage.
- Focus
- Exposure
- Shutter Speed
- White Balance
- ISO
Focus
As mentioned earlier, one of the first steps in setting up the perfect coin photo is ensuring that the coin is completely in focus within the confines of the image frame. If the camera is even the slightest bit out of focus, important details on the coin may come out blurry. Fortunately, most phone cameras have an easy way to shift the focus on an image being photographed. Once your coin is in the right spot, simply tap the screen to bring up the yellow focus square. The phone camera’s focus will move anywhere you tap your finger for easy adjustment.
Another key focus feature to be aware of is the AE/AF Lock. Press your finger down on your desired point of focus and hold until you see “AE/AF Lock” displayed on your screen. This locks in your desired focus and exposure to take multiple photos of your coin without re-adjusting before each picture.
Exposure
Once you’ve set your camera’s focus, you can adjust the exposure to make the image darker or brighter. Once you’ve tapped your focus box into view, you will see a small icon to the left or right of the box. Using your finger, drag this icon up and down the screen until you have found the desired level of light exposure for your photo.
Shutter Speed
Shutter speed refers to the amount of time your camera’s shutter is open while taking a photo. Slow shutter speeds can be as long as 30 seconds and are used to create a sense of motion in a photograph. In contrast, faster shutter speeds are used to create freeze-motion images that can capture moving objects in complete stillness. The fastest shutter speeds can last less than a millisecond and can capture the tiniest of objects in motion.
Of course, blurriness in the enemy in coin photography, so a higher shutter speed will be much more advantageous in this scenario. By increasing the shutter speed, you will be able to more accurately capture the surface contrasts in the coin’s design. Furthermore, you can capture dozens of images in very quick succession as you adjust your photo angle.
White Balance
White balance refers to a camera’s ability to remove unrealistic color casts in photos so that the object being photographed looks the same color as it does to the naked eye. This is an extremely important feature when it comes to photographing coins, as many old and/or rare coins possess unique rust or oxidization stains that may not look as prominent if the white balance isn’t correct.
While there is no way to manually adjust the white balance on your phone camera, most newer cameras can quite accurately “guess” the right white balance needed for your photo.
ISO
The “ISO” is essentially your camera sensor’s sensitivity to light. The higher the ISO number, the brighter your photo will be, which can be advantageous when photographing in a low-light scene. However, if the ISO is too high, the image will appear grainy and low-quality. Therefore, you should avoid putting the ISO too high when photographing coins.
Just like the white balance feature, your phone camera will automatically adjust ISO. If your camera is producing grainy images, you will need to adjust your exposure and external light sources to compensate.
Handle Your Coins with Care
Before you even begin taking photographs of your coins, you need to ensure that you are caring for them properly. The better condition your coin is in, the easier it will be for you to highlight its unique qualities and capture its true value Below are suggestions for how to properly care for your coins for the best photography results.
- Always Handle Coins by the Edge
- Only Handle Your Coins Around Soft Surfaces
- Never Clean Your Coins
- Store Coins Properly
Always Hold Coins by the Edge
Even the tiniest amount of dirt, oil, or grime from your hands can stick to your coin’s surface. The buildup will cause your coin to lose its luster over time and potentially damage the coin by creating a buildup of fine lines that will further devalue it. To avoid this, make sure you always hold your coins by the edge and make sure your hands are clean and dry.
Always Handle Your Coins Around Soft Surfaces
All it takes is the fumble of a finger for your coin to go tumbling to the ground. Dropping a coin directly onto a hard surface will almost certainly lead to nicks and scratches that will devalue your coin and be difficult to hide in a photograph. Always make sure you’re handling your coins on a carpeted surface or another soft area where they won’t get dinged up if they’re dropped.
Never Clean Your Coins
The shinier the coin, the better the value…right? Wrong! While it may be tempting to clean your coins until they sparkle, you must resist the urge. Most coin cleaning agents are highly acidic and will rub off important details on a coin’s surface. Even tap water contains enough chlorine to discolor your coin over time. If you’re concerned about an older coin’s photographability, take it to a professional – but under no circumstances should you try to clean it yourself.
Store Coins Properly
Any coin that you’re planning to be photographed should be stored in an airtight space that will keep it protected from corrosion from exposure to moisture in the air. Store your coins in a coin holder or album, and keep them in a cool, dry place where they can’t be damaged by exposure to hot air or humidity.
Will I be Able to Sell Coins with Photos Taken on My Phone?
If you follow the instructions above, you should be able to produce clear enough photos to provide potential buyers with an accurate representation of what your coin will look like to the naked eye. If you have editing software on your computer, you can upload your photos and make minor adjustments if need be before posting or printing your photos. Regardless, you should be in a great position to provide buyers with the information they need to assess your coin’s true value.