Analyzing low quality photos to find obscure details as a hobby.

[Rocco]

The largest component to my numismatic hobby is identifying rare coin varieties in less than ideal photos on auction websites.

At times it has proved to be a highly thrilling and profitable hobby. I thought I would share some of what I do with this community. Here are some reference pictures (of the reverse or back side) of a 1912 D and 1912 S Liberty nickel. This is a US coin and these were the only year from 1883-1912 that featured a mint mark on a nickel making them first ever coins and uncommon. The S coin was made in San Francisco and has a value multiple times that of the D Denver made examples.

I found a coin labeled as a D but I think it is really an S. That would make it worth about $100 more than a D in low grade condition. So I spent a lot of time in the last two days analyzing the seller photos and comparing them to better photographs of similar coins. What do you think about the letter in the blurry pics?
Examples of S

Examples of D

Examples of the coin I am analyzing

 

[Judge]

Don't forget "CC". Loved those Morgan Silver Dollars from our Carson City mint.....

 

[Rocco]

Carson City never made any nickels. That would be extremely valuable like all CC issue coins, if they had. I believe Carson City was very low mintage silver and gold coins only.

 

[Tom]

I see what you are saying, but the distortion of the metal makes it unclear to me. Glad you have the hobby though. I sometimes have had to do similar analysis with magnifying glass or playing around with the photos, trying to bring out details.

 

[Judge]

Carson City never made any nickels. That would be extremely valuable like all CC issue coins, if they had. I believe Carson City was very low mintage silver and gold coins only.

Yep....that's why I like to give out Morgan silver dollars from CC to people for gifts. Coin collecting is a big deal here...much as are classic cars.

Though I confine my own collecting to foreign coins, just for my own amusement. Especially coins from countries or governments that technically no longer exist.

 

[AuAL]

If it were me, I’d go for it.
Fascinating hobby. I generally have a good eye for detail but in this field have no knowledge to speak of.

 

[Judge]

Yes, I find the who aspect of mint markings relative to how many coins minted very interesting in terms of overall market value. Also coins that were improperly struck in some way at the mint that created them, making them equally valuable.

Though like "bounty hunters", there are always numismatists carefully looking to find them.