A new idea coming to life...

coppercoins · Site Admin

As I sat the other night thinking about things, I wondered how nice it would be if people had an image hosting service they could use to showcase their collections and run their auctions. Something that would serve two purposes - as a warehouse for their eBay images AND a place where they could show off their collections. I've seen a number of image hosts used for such purposes and they just plain don't have what it takes to be a "gallery."

Further thought went into the idea if there were other similar sites that bridged the gap between different topics of collecting - coins, cards, comics...

I then began to think that an idea like this could really take off if the interface was simple and easy to use, the name of the service was easy to remember, and the members' galleries were self-controlled and easy to find.

Further thought came to mind in making this truly unique, and I researched and found programming modules that would actually allow the members to modify and edit their pictures AFTER they uploaded them to the site...from any one of 90 different image types to a size and type that is compatible for use on the internet. It would also create an on-the-fly thumbnail image of their picture that they could also use in auctions, etc.

The idea came to head over the weekend and names were bought. Graphics packages will be developed that will allow users a choice of a number of different background styles and thumbnail framing styles to further personalize their galleries of images.

Pricing will range $3-$6 per month depending on package styles (limited space versus unlimited space) and duration of membership commitment. Three, six, or twelve month plans will be available that will discount the per-month fee based on longer commitments.

The following images are just that - screen shots - NOT finished web pages. This is what the site would "look like" and not how it will act. These images are full-screen JPG images that are quite large, but will give the full-feeling appearance of what one graphics package would look with one hypothetical person's gallery.

Welcome to the new age....the age of galleries.

http://www.coingalleries.com/layout.html

http://www.cardgalleries.com/layout.html

I have also secured www.comicgalleries.com but haven't yet done the graphics for them. The layout would be the same, but the topic would of course be different.

So - two questions:

What do you think?

What did you do this past weekend? LOL!

GarryN · Expert Member

1. I think its a great idea. I will participate

2. Spent the weekend gutting my basement and beginning a remodeling process.

I will be going to Puerto Rico on business the week of the 19th or 26th. My wife will probably be going, if she cant I will be taking applications from other wives that might want to go along!

Robert · Senior Member

Good idea. Several questions...

1. What resolution will you shoot at? (or is that a trade secret?) File size, etc. Only copper?

2. You might need some sort of insurance when people send you their coins. Sort of like an eBay scam I heard about... Payment sent by registered mail except that the envelope is empty. Buyer's word against seller's. I can hear it now.... "I sent four... no... five 1909S-VDBs!"

3. Who owns the pictures (copyright)? And what happens if the customer doesn't like the pics?

I would like you to shoot some of my coins. The only reasons I haven't asked you so far are that I thought you were too busy w/ school, Coppercoins, etc; many of mine are foreign silver and not US copper, and I'm not sure what I'd do with the pics other than use one as an avatar here.

But like I said, I like the idea.

coppercoins · Site Admin

First things first...I think you got the general message a bit wrong. These sites are for image "hosting" not for image "taking". I put the ad for image taking in there just in case anyone wanted me to take some images for them. The general majority (I would hope all) will be images someone else takes. I don't really want to get into the coin photography business, I have too many other things going on. The point of these sites is for people to have a nice place to house their collection topic specific images so they can show them off in a nice graphics package and still be able to use them anywhere on the internet. It has very little to do with me photographing coins for people.

joeyuk · Advanced Member

I think it is a very good idea . I can see whare it would be very useful. Joe

Doug · Advanced Member

I think that's a great idea there Chuck! You can count me in. One idea that came to mind is to make one of those 90 options an exact copy of just how you show pictures on your site. That way it might be possible to eliminate some steps on this end to potentially submit pictures already set up as you would prefer for inclusion on the CC site. Just a thought.

coop · Expert Member

Good Idea Chuck. Count me in when you get ready.

coppercoins · Site Admin

Well, the nice part of the code is that I can draw up a collection of different frame borders, header graphics, and backgrounds, and the member has full control over what they use in their galleries. I will probably do a dozen different of each, giving the member 1,728 different choices of combinations. I am also considering backgrounds for the text box on the right of the screen - give the members a dozen different ones of those to choose from and the final possibility of different gallery graphics jumps to over 20,000.

Thanks for the good reviews so far - Tom and I should have everything working on the coin galleries site by the end of February. The card galleries site will roll out in March, and the comic galleries site will roll out in April. We are hoping that between the three different sites we can get at least 2,500 members.