One thing I learned about taking detail photos of small things with a digital camera, is that you don't want to get too close to the item. Put your camera on the highest quality of pixels, and shoot from at least 2 feet away. If you can adjust the ASA of the photo, put it on 400 or more for indoor, so that the shutterspeed is fast, eliminating the blur of you holding it. Better yet, get a cheap tripod so the camera doesn't move during the photo capture.
Some cameras have a video plug in, where you can hook the camera up to a TV monitor. When you take the photo, the image will show up on the TV and you can see if it is crisp and clear enough, since the LCD on the camera is too small to see detail. When you get too close to the item, the camera can't focus on it. Also,if you put something with printing on it next to your treasure, so that the camera can focus on the printing, it will help it to focus. Cameras have a hard time focusing on uniform texture surfaces with no details. Adding the lettering, or a coin, or something gives the camera what it needs. You can always photo edit the item out later.
If you shoot the small item at highest quality from a distance, you can photo edit in close without the image degrading very much. On the other hand, if you shoot from a distance with the lowest quality, when you zoom in, you will lose the sharp details.
Lighting is also important. If you go back and look at the photos of the 6 Pdr Davis gun projo I posted, I was actually holding a small flashlight in my hand, next to the lens, to illuminate inside the base of the projo.
Good luck!
