DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY: A NUMISMATIC GAME-CHANGER

High-quality digital photography has become a game-changer in numismatics.

The world of rare coins has gone almost entirely online.

Who would have thought a few years ago that a major auction company could sell tens of millions of dollars in rare coins online? Traditionally, buyers would attend major conventions and view lots for several days before making purchases. That has all changed, and one of the key factors has been the advanced development of quality digital photographs. Buyers can now bid confidently based solely on images provided by online sellers.

The shift from film to digital photography

In 1984, I started a rare coin auction company and found that getting quality photography was quite the chore. We needed to build a dark room and hire someone to take the pictures. Our first auction catalog used images developed in a bathtub by my partner, Ron Guth. A few years later, Tom Mulvaney joined the company and has worked with me in various capacities ever since. His photography techniques and skills have evolved over the years, and today he is known as one of the best rare coin photographers in the world.

I called him about this article and asked when he started using digital photography. When he was a photographer for PCGS in 1995, management approached him about going digital. At the time, the price for a 1-megapixel camera exceeded $35,000. Going digital was sidelined for a few years, until 2000 when Tom bought a 2-megapixel camera for around $2,000. Today, a 20-megapixel camera typically costs under $300.

Many photographers, Tom included, resisted the use of digital photography for years because of quality issues. But now that the pixel count has grown, numismatic photography has gone entirely digital.

Today, digital photography is one of the key tools for the numismatics business. Quality digital images are necessary for anyone who lists a coin on eBay, has a website or produces catalogs. Those who are skillful enough to use software to enhance images are in high demand. Each day, thousands upon thousands of images of rare coins are posted online by rare coin sellers around the world. These range from shoddy phone pictures to impeccable studio images.

Online company sales are evidence of the market desirability for quality digital coin images. Many of these companies pride themselves on the standard of photos they use for their web businesses. I have even heard some of them say they consider how a coin will photograph before making a purchase.

A few rare coin companies outsource images for important coins to get the very best results. Recently, I overheard one of these sellers say that they send the coins to multiple photographers to find the best image possible. It's sort of like trying to get an upgrade on a coin photo!

To read the complete article, see:
Jeff Garrett: The Power of Pixels (https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/8705/)

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