Beginning about three or four years ago, I noticed an ever-increasing amount of my business involved cellphone pictures of coins. This was especially true from the aspect of buying. And as the coin market had to re-invent itself in 2020 due to Covid 19, a significant amount of business became cellphone-driven. If I had to guess, I would say that close to 50%—if not more—of all dealer-to-dealer business is now done off of cellphone images.

This is both great and terrible. The “great” part of the equation is that dealers found a viable way to quickly move new coins. The “terrible” part is that these transactions tend to be sight-unseen and unless a dealer is very sophisticated and knows how to read a cellphone image of a coin (and others factors as well) he is going to get stuck with some really low-end coins.

In the title of this blog, I referred to radiology and this is only partly a joke. Cellphone images of coins can be interpreted if you know what to look for, just as a radiologist uses medical imaging to diagnose and treat diseases.

Here are some tips which might make the next cellphone image you get a little easier to interpret.

*shot on the fly at the ANA in Philly, 2018*

1. Learn What Nice Coins Are Supposed to Look Like

In each of the books which I have written about branch mint gold, I take a lot of time describing what a “proper” example of a coin is supposed to look like. As an example, when describing the natural coloration for an 1851-O half eagle, I state “(it) is most often a medium to deep orange or green-gold.” If you are being offered an 1851-O half eagle and it is dark red, this is a good sign that the coin has been recolored and should be avoided.

Another important thing to know about each issue is its type of luster. Does a specific coin come frosty, satiny, dull or brilliant? Although luster may not show up well on a cellphone image, you can often determine whether it is impaired or not.

2. Does the Coin Show Evidence of a Cover-up?

A good cellphone image may reveal areas of haze or blotches of odd color which are indicative or something having been placed on the surfaces to cover up a scratch, some hairlines or even an area where a spot has been removed. Coins with any of these should be avoided.

3. Swirls in the Fields

From time to time, the grading services miss minor old repairs on coins. As an example there may be some subtle swirls in the fields which are indicative of a spot having been removed or a mark having been scratched off. Unfortunately, it is difficult to see the edge of a coin in its slab, let alone in an image, so you’ll likely not be able to see if your coin has had its edges smoothed or filed. But look at as much of the edge as you can see and search for dense scratches or an area where the color doesn’t match the rest of the coin.

4. With Proof Coins? You are on Your Own!

No cellphone image of a Proof gold coin will give you a good indication of the true appearance of the surfaces. If you are buying a Proof gold coin grading 64 or lower, this won’t matter all that much as you can expect the coin will show more hairlines than what is on the image. For higher grade Proof gold coins, I strongly suggest buying them only on a sight-seen basis.

5. Videos

Some sellers will attach a short video of the coin they are selling. I find 99% of these to be a waste of time as they do little more than determine whether a coin has luster or it doesn’t. My guess is that the video process will improve dramatically in the coming years and, who knows, we may eventually even have 3-D video available on our phones.

6. Which Coins Photograph the Best?

With cellphone pictures, there are certainly some people who just take better images than others. But let’s assume that with a fairly sophisticated iPhone or Android, everyone can take a fairly decent shot. Which coins photograph better than others?

A cellphone image will have a hard time conveying really great color so if a coin seems to have pretty hues based on the images, the chances are good they will be even better in person. Coins which are dark do not photograph well nor do coins which are very shiny. Coins in somewhat older NGC holders (where the coin appears “jammed” into the slab) image poorly. Nice circulated coins (say an EF45 Dahlonega half eagle) will likely image better than a scrubby AU55.

7. A Few Tips From a Pro

The serial number of the coin is important.

On PCGS coins which have been graded within the last few years, and at least in the Express Tier, the chances are good that you will be able to verify the coin and see an image by going to the Verify icon on the PCGS.com website and entering the serial number. Often times, the coin you are being offered will appear in a lovely large format full-color image. I typically do this on a tablet so I can manipulate the screen and expand it to study small details. I can’t tell you the number of times this has saved me from buying a low-end coin based merely on a cellphone image.

On NGC coins, the last three digits of the serial number (the numbers after the dash) represent the number of coins included in an invoice. If the number ends in, say 003, this means that it was the third coin on the invoice. If the number is large, say 048, this means it was submitted in a large group of coins and this is generally not a positive. But if the number is small (i.e., 001) it was submitted either by itself or in a very small group. This is a good sign that the coin is fresh or it was submitted by a smaller dealer.

You can bet that we will see changes which are a lot more significant than good quality cellphone images. We’ve already seen the democratization of information in the coin market with more information available to the casual buyer in 2021 than in all of modern history up to this date.