Friday Evening Post: Vision, Eyeglasses and Coin Collectors!!

keets

How many of us wear glasses??

Let me tell you my story. I always had 20/20 or better vision and I worked the better part of my life as a tool and die maker, most of it close-up, small detail work. Never had a problem with my sight until........one day about 5-6 years ago during my hiatus from the hobby I noticed a wheat cent in my change. Much to my surprise i had difficulty making out the date. Bummer!! Shortly thereafter I was getting my eyes checked and I donned my first pair of spectacles.

Fast forward to mid-1999 when I came back into the fold. I was really shocked at how difficult it is to see what was so plain before. I'm sure if I would never have left the hobby I would have noticed it sooner, that's how stark the change is. I find myself a slave to my specs at shows, shops and club meetings.

It occurred to me recently, with all the hubbub about PCGS and grading, to ask how many members need "help" besides a loupe to look at coins?? Who knows a professional grader or a dealer with a good eye, do they wear corrective lenses?

On a humorous note I was at a show several months ago and met up with a few members. One was kranky. I was struck by the fact that although he wore glasses, when I asked his opinion of a coin I'd brought along, he pulled them OFF to give it a closer look without a loupe!! What an advantage. I can see how that might help cherrypick!!

Anyway, I was interested to see how other's have reconciled with imperfect vision and how it affects their participation in the hobby. Thanks to all.

Al H.

DHeath

Yeah, I need' em. Copper is especially tough. Without my glasses, they're all MS67s.

MrEureka

I was struck by the fact that although he wore glasses, when I asked his opinion of a coin I'd brought along, he pulled them OFF to give it a closer look without a loupe!! What an advantage.

Same here. I get a headache when I try to look at coins when I'm wearing my glasses.

TWQG

20/15 in both eyes. I've learned to cope with my affliction though.

Wolfy00002

I don't wear them yet. But thanks, you just gave this fellow Tool & Die Maker something to look forward too. WooHoo!!!

MadMarty

Me, yep... Had them for 40 years now...

KlectorKid

Not me, I have very near perfect vision.

stman

Hey Keets, you didn't hit the 40 mark did you?

CoinAddict

I also wear glasses. My father sounds just like kranky. When I ask him to look at my coins he too takes off his glasses to get a closer look at the coin.

keets

my dad was in the same line of work and though i haven't got any memories of him without glasses, he told me the age was about the same when he first started to need help. when i told him i was only going to wear the specs for reading he chuckled!!! said that was his plan too, but he finally got tired of putting them on-and-off all day. man, i hate it when he's right, even today!!

al h.

clw54

<< <i>Not me, I have very near perfect vision. >>


So did I when I was a kid. It doesn't last.

g097103

I've worn glasses since I was 7, almost 40 years now. But I find that in the last year or so I have to take them off to
get a good look at coins.

andy007

20/15 here.

RGL

I've worn glasses for 35 years -- since the fifth grade -- and have even graduated to bifocals! I still yank them off for an up-close scope of a coin ...

satootoko

Four eyes for 63 years and counting .

I take off the cheaters only when looking through binoculars (not at coins) or microscopes!

The beautiful bride of 47+ years, on the other hand, yanks hers off before looking up close at small stuff!

Fairlaneman

Got Bummed out about two years ago when I could not read the morning paper anymore. Went and got a pair of reading glasses for the paper. Now the Eyes are so dependent on them that they are used for all close up work. Cannot even hardly see the Dinky Merc Dimes without them.

The whole family laughed at me when they first saw them on. That was damn hard to take. The Joys of Ageing.

Ken

BigD5

I've had glasses since high school, and probably needed them before then. Doesn't really effect viewing coins (I'm nearsighted), but it does mess up my depth perception on my golf game

satootoko

<< <i>The Joys of Ageing. >>



A whle bunch better than the alternative!

(Even wearing trifocals)

Fairlaneman

Being a True Hacker is the only thing that messes up my Golf Game. Eye sight has nothing to do with the crap I pull on the Links.

Ken

66Tbird

I don't wear them yet but feel I will someday. I have been blessed with what I have considered amazing vision, but my time will come.

What constitutes "amazing". Well, I got a nice reprimand from the air force for flying a model airplane(glider) with a 7 foot span into their 8000 ft space from a 1300ft elevation.

ursabear

I've got them. I've worn specs since I was 4. It was a weird life growing up being a foot taller than most, with a deep voice at 12, and glasses... fun, huh?

Actually, I just got progressive lenses for the first time. They beat bifocals or switching glasses for me.

Believe it or not, it helps with my coin grading. I used to need a low-x glass or lupe to see mint marks.

DHeath, I can relate to the "all MS67s" thing... All my proofs were 70s because there weren't any hairlines!

kranky

<< <i>I was struck by the fact that although he wore glasses, when I asked his opinion of a coin I'd brought along, he pulled them OFF to give it a closer look without a loupe!! >>



<Paul Harvey voice> And now, the rest of the story... </Paul Harvey voice>

I've worn glasses since I was 3. And I finally broke down and got my long-overdue new glasses since then, keets. Now I have bifocals. Didn't you notice I was holding the coin about a foot from my face?