Have you ever wondered why if grading is the single most important factor in numismatics, why optics

wingedliberty

This has always fascinated me, considering the fact that distortion in poor magnification can affect your assesment of a grade or quality, etc. I always recommend using a 7-10x 18-20mm hexagonal Peer or a Bausch and Lomb triplet of the same type at 18-20mm. Both are great at filtering out distortion and can be had for less than $40. More quality magnifiers can be had such as Zeiss at $80-$90 / unit, but I would not recommend the cheap ANCO type loopes. I have used them in the past and they have alot of distortion. I have seen friends at shows using them and I have used them myself , but cannot do so now, once you feel the difference, you cannot go back.
So my question is simple: If you are going to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on coins, why not enjoy them and enhance your grading accuracy. Spend $35 for a nice magnifier. It kind of reminds me of the folks who will buy a $5000 coin, but will not get the book on the series. Yes, buy the book before the coin, or in this case, you can't grade with lousy optics. Just my opinion. I would like to hear yours.

Enjoy the hobby.

Cam40

you can't grade with lousy optics

I can.



I mean..I have no choice.

No , I would like to get a cool stereoscope someday. Those have got to be cool. I could imagine.

wingedliberty

CAM40:
Yes, they are cool, a very cool $700! . I'll stick to my $40 Bausch & Lomb.

Placid

If you collect mercs you need one for sure.

Cam40

700 clams? Wooo.

I,ll get JB to buy one and borrow it from him for a weekend then.

LucyBop

I have great eyesight, I see everything.... I have never used a loope, I can spot a fsb Winged Liberty with ease, my secret.... I never ate Carrots, they make you go blind.....

How many Rabbits are road kill??? Didn't they see the car?

cladking

There are several good threads on magnifiers (used "magnif" on the search engine).

You're right that a good magnifier is important especially for attribution and the detection
of problems.



thred

njcoincrank

While good optics are without a doubt a benefit, perhaps a little knowledge of the way coins should look, ie unmolested, is more important.

The unfortunate drawback of using a "loupe" is that you concentrate on one area of the coin, micro-grade, as apposed to grade the whole piece. Loupes are great for decerning full bands and such, and confirming suspect areas of the coin in question.

If you must use a loupe, I reccomend using one that is high quality and in the 10x range. Also, try and find one with a lense approximately 1 1/2" to 2" in diameter.

Just my two cents worth

njcoincrank

jhar

I've wanted a Zeiss Loupe for a while. Been keeping a lookout on ebay.

For those who've used both the B&L and the Zeiss loupes, how do they compare.

cointagious

<< <i>You're right that a good magnifier is important especially for attribution and the detection >>



...but for grading you should be using your naked eye for larger pieces and no more than a 4x to 6x loop for smaller pieces. a 50w incandecent bulb is the lighting of choice. this is how the 'world class' graders do it.

MrEureka

a 50w incandecent bulb is the lighting of choice. this is how the 'world class' graders do it.

For all it's worth, I prefer 100 watts.

Stuart

I have a binocular microscope capable of viewing with either transmitted light (through the object) or reflected light (off of the object) that was purchased for another hobby. Magnification range is either 10x or 30x, with a 2x multiplier yielding additional 20x or 60x. I purchased it used on E-Bay (which I rarely look at) for about 30% of the original cost.

I have to tell you that I've gotten tremendous enjoyment from using it on my coin collection, not to grade coins but to spot overdates, VAM varieties, repunched mintmarks, and other metal flow characteristics of my coins. It opens up a whole new dimension of enjoying my collection.

So, even though it cost as much as one expensive coin, it allows me increased enjoyment of my entire collection.

I've seen inexpensive used binocular scopes offered by some dealers at regional coins shows, at between $100-$200 each.

I'm very pleased with the amount of additional enjoyment and education that I get from examining my collection very closely.