Summer Seminar, is a once-a-year opportunity for numismatic learning and camaraderie that offers students a varied selection of week-long courses designed for discovery or continued study. Learn more.
Jenna Van Valen, photographer at DWN.
We’ve all heard the numismatic mantra, “Buy the coin, not the holder.” But what about those times we can’t view the coin in person? Surely we can’t all attend every convention, every auction, visit every dealer and view their inventory. We rely on dealers we trust, we rely on their descriptions, and we hope that the photo tells enough of a story that we can make an informed opinion on the coin without actually holding it in our own hands. We need to count on the dealer to be our eyes, because no two photos of the same coin will look the same. Why?