For your viewing pleasure yet another 2 Cent

[NoHope587]

Five weeks of playing around with lighting so far but I like the results.
1 500 watt halogen offset 12 inches away 5 inches high and angled down at 45 degrees Any closer and it melts the camera lens hood
Camera on a mini tripod 3 degrees offset from the vertical 4 inches above subject.
Iso locked to 400

Feel free to grade this 1864 2 Cent coin.
Also feel free to add any tips to improve the pictures

[Paint Your Wagon]

Wow super pic
Now you need to get bitcomet and the right torrent to download photoshop 3
A bit sharpening and contrasting might help put the icing on the cake

In  Sweden it is legal to get copies from other friends
Why buy a cow if you can get milk thru the fence for free
Just put in photoshop 3 as query and download and follow instructions unless you think it is illigal doing this offshore 

http://thepiratebay.org/404/

I just am a rogue flemish who learned to smuggle at age 6 starting with butter from holland and upgrading to portable radios from
germany when I was ten and then culminating in entire hifi systems from the US military at wiesbaden . US flew them into Switzerland and then got them into wiesbaden and they were a quarter of the normal price in belgium . We are so lost without borders and the guy asking anything to declare lad

[Eringobraugh]

WOW.....Thats a BIG coin ....And attractive!!

I think Ill grade it high XF,it looks like there some wear on the obverse and reverse..Although,If it werent maginified to such a high degree,Id probably go higher

[NoHope587]

I would only give it an F12. I am sure if it was on fleabay it would be touted as XF.....

[Eringobraugh]

Your obviously a very conservative grader,Ive seen a lot worse looking 2 cent pieces that were graded XF!!

What was it graded when you acquired it?

[NoHope587]

I bought an old copy of Photograde when I moved to Texas in the 90's I have used it ever since. I have seen the standards for 2 Cents drop considerably over the last few years but I prefer the old school. I don't know what I paid for this particular one but I doubt is was more than fine money. my purchases have droped off considerably over the last couple of years simply because I refuse to pay MS money for an XF coin. I carry a set of PCGS (Green label) graded coins when I go to shows. Most dealers try to tell me that market grading is the way it is now. Some still play by the old rules and these are the one who get my repeat business. Yes I am conservative but hen it pays to be picky....

[AdamL]

Yeah. Many aspects of market grading annoy me 

[Eringobraugh]

Thats the thing,a lot of unscrupulus dealers these days are all about the money and will bump the grade up a notch or two to make a few extra dollars....

I think ebay has caused a lot of this deception...I never had much of a problem with overgraded coin, years ago,because the dealers knew they would see you again!

[Triggersmob]

I'm still learning to grade, but this is how I see it. Let me know if I am wrong.
I thought a coin had to have mint lustre to grade at least XF.
There does not appear to be any lustre. I see heavy wear on the denticles so this would
not allow it to grade VF. Therefore I am inclined to agree with Richard and grade F.
Is this correct??

Nice pic by the way.

[Paint Your Wagon]

I asked seven my buddy who was a coindealer
Here is his answer what he would pay for it : that is what he would grade it

ah, i know these -- that's a VF -- the leaves on the front are all missing their centerlines except for the top two or three

[NoHope587]

I agree to a point but to make VF there also has to be a complete we and there has to be separation between the arrow heads and their shafts. The E is missing and the W is weak there heads are blended into the shafts. so leaves aside it only gets an F in my book. This is why grading is so difficult everyone has their own opinions based on the way they learnt or where taught.

[Paint Your Wagon]

Ah but when a dealer says VF to a friend he means he will buy it as Fine and sell it as Very Fine
Anyway my friend was specialised in estate sales and to make money on that you have to be very astute not to overbid on the lot
His second best source were widows