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Best light for viewing/grading?
Along
Posts: 466 ✭✭✭✭
What is the best light for viewing coins & where can it be purchased?
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...when selling coins I always suggest that buyers view my selection with their eyes closed and their mind open...feel the plastic and sticker and imagine one of TDN’s coins
I prefer a 100 watt incandescent bulb in an otherwise dark room.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Halogen. No question. Incandescent is the next best thing.
Lance.
I find that halogen is the best for finding every little problem but somewhat overpower luster and wash out color. But everyone's eyes are different. Anyway, even if you decide to go with incandescent, it's worth experimenting with halogen to see what you've been missing.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Why not use both:)
Small, bright, and consistent.
And if that doesn't work, then sodium vapor lights of assorted color temperatures, some flickering, none bright enough to let you see anything well.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
I agree with the above responses concerning using halogen and incandescent lights for grading.. For authenticating coins, I use a fluorescent light. It makes it easier to see the details on the coin's surfaces without the flash and bright reflection from halogen and incandescent lights that gets in the way of studying the details on the coin's surfaces.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
@Along asked: "What is the best light for viewing coins...?"
Whether you realize it or not, you opened up one of the biggest "worm cans" in numismatics. Professional numismatic experts at the top of their field use different lighting and swear it is the best!
I will say that each has a place and NONE is a perfect light for all uses. I've posted in very big letters below because I don't wish to argue with folks who have never tried different light sources. In class, I tell the story about a famous numismatist/dealer who brought a "Brilliant white Gem Unc" coin to my table at a show and I had him look at his "gem" using florescent light. The gray color friction rub on the high points "popped" out immediately on his "super slider!" The next day he told me he bought a portable OTT florescent lamp for his table. The experience of seeing is believing. Now...
I've used/tried virtually every light source (within reason - no arc light) in existence.
Incandescent: 100W - 75W Soft White, Regular, and the one I cannot remember at the moment (Reveal?).
Florescent: 15W (two bulbs) 30W total in atural Sunshine, Daylight, Normal (?), etc. all from 590 to 740 lumens.
Halogen: Both single bulb and double pipe light (unknown W's)
Mercury: Unk Watts
Flood: Unk Watts
I only recommend two for normal daily desk use w/o a stereomicroscope. Incandescent 100W or 75W + a florescent jeweler's lamp. Incandescent shows marks and hairlines; florescent shows friction wear. **Florescent is the ONLY light to use for authentication! I GRADE coins with both!
I keep both light sources on my desk. That's because I have learned that I can see everything there is to see on a coin (including marks and hairlines) with a scope and florescent light. Nevertheless, if you only have one light source, incandescent is best (unless you have a scope and the ONLY time I even think of moving an incandescent light near a microscope is to take a photo using that light!)
I don't recommend a halogen light for anything EXCEPT microscopic work using a scope.
AMEN
This member has posted something amazing! It looks like my preaching in seminars and print for almost fifty years may be producing fruit! BTW, the authenticators at the U.S. Mint Lab, use and taught the first Director and Authenticator at ANACS in DC (Charles Hoskins) that florescent light is the only type of light to use when examining a coin.
I prefer florescent light... but have used incandescent as well. I have even used ultraviolet light for some applications...I keep a UV flashlight handy for that and other reasons. Cheers, RickO
This is one of the more useful threads. While the type of magnifier is important for grading and authentication, the light source used is every bit as important.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Does anyone here like to use a loupe with a built in light?
The most important thing is whatever you choose, try and keep as much (type of light/magnification) as constant as you can.
When checking for hairlines, you have to rotate and tilt the coin under the light to see them. You can't do that with a build in light.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I use GE Reveal incandescent bulbs but will try using flourescent light as well based on suggestions in this thread. Thanks!
Awhile back in one of my posts @Insider2 "turned me on" to using fluorescent light to grade coins and see detail. I have been using it ever since. I use a 5000k LED variable ring light to photograph with or without a stereomicroscope.
I got used to using my loupe light, but I have noticed it overpowers and gives me too much detail , but not in a way that reflects real appearance. I need to take the time to just use a loupe and play with the light source.
Also, I will sometimes use my loupe light to look at a coin in the dark, forgetting that it sometimes temporarily partially blinds me from the reflection.