FAQ

There are many options and gadgets available for taking good coin photos using digital cameras. Here is one setup:

Making a better scan:
Scanning a coin and making it look right is not a difficult task. It requires a few technical adjustments, but once these are done you will be able to scan excellent coin pictures every time. Here are the basics:

a) Choose a correct format for the internet. JPG or GIF are the standard for the internet. The use of TIFF or BMP files is less desirable due to the excessive size of the files.

b) Scan at a reasonable DPI (Dots Per Inch) Usually anything from 150 to 300 is fine and will produce a good scan that is readable. Anything below that is a waste of time. Anything above that is not really needed for the purpose of identification unless there are details that are important for the ids such as signatures etc… Below are pictures of the same coin scanned at different DPIs for you to see the difference:

72 DPI (Very week and useless).

100 DPI (Still week with very little details)

150 DPI (Just the right amount of details needed for most scans)

200DPI a bit more details

300 DPI (High details for marginal legends anything higher than this is too much)

If you wish to be fancy, you may change the back ground. I usually keep the scanner door open and get an even black background but here are a few ideas. These are felt sheets that you can buy from a hobby store used as a background:



Or use the back of the scanner

c) Take the coin out of the flippet or holder. The glare that the plastic creates will make the scan useless.

d) Scan both sides, then cut and paste them into one scan to make it easier to view both sides at once.

e) Give the file a simple name [myscana] as opposed to [my unknown coin number119 obv]. This will make the address to the scan easier to handle in emails

Uploading Files:
Most of the problems we have in loading or even viewing the scans is that we are logged out of the
yahoo group’s site and need to login to access the file area. To do that go to the ‘My Groups" area here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/mygroups

If you get a page that shows an area to login or signup, you need to login. Put your username and then your password, but before hitting the enter key or the Sign-in button click on the square that says: "Remember my ID & password " . This will assure that you are not logged out unless you physically do so, in which case you have to login again later. Once you are logged in go to the group’s home page here:
http://www.islamiccoinsgroup.50g.com/index.html
and click on the button to the left that says: "Upload Scan" In the next page click on browse and look through your C: drive to find the scan that you want to send from your computer to the group’s site. Double click on the file then click on the "notification" check box and click "upload file" from the screen. That should do it.

1) YOU ARE NOT LOGGED IN.
Most of the the time this page comes up because we are logged out of the yahoo group’s site and need to login to access the file area. To do that go to the ‘My Groups" area here: http://groups.yahoo.com/mygroups

2) YOU ARE USING A PARTIAL SCAN ADDRESS. GO BACK AND MAKE SURE THE WHOLE ADDRESS IS SHOWING.

When members use large names for their scans sometimes the names run over to another line in the email. In such cases clicking on the hyperlink in the email will not take you to the scan because part of the name is missing. Instead you get the Oooops page. You can either go to the file section manually or you can physically copy and paste the full name of the file to the browser address area.

	A florescent daylight is used to light up the shadow box. The box is placed on a low table with the Camera on a tripod above it
	Use a good camera and allow the focusing and meter reading to be concentrated in one spot as opposed to general readings from all the view area.
	In the shadow box a black background is used and a flat-top screw is placed in the center. The top of the screw is covered by a drop from a hot glue gun that is flattened and let dry. This helpd keep the coins from getting scratched and in place.