This are pictures of a 1 dollar coin with my own made macro ring light on.

This is a picture of the same 1 dollar coin taken with flash on.

As I was testing it out in extreme conditions and my room was really dark ( no other light source other than the flash and the macro ring light), so i could not take a clear image of the coin using the same settings. My settings for the photos taken in the above is

Shutter speed : 1/40
Apperture : f/4.5
ISO : 3200

As mentioned, I am using a canon 500D, so I used it to take the shots. My photography skills may not be so professional, but what i am trying to point out is the usefulness of the ring light I have made. See the shadow in the 3rd photo when i used my flash, as compared to the photo taken with my ring light.