Loupes

GoldCoinLover

I'm trying to get a loupe or high quality pocket microscope to view fine hairlines, flow lines, and toolmarks for counterfeits. Someone on these boards told me the problem with high powered loupes (Like a 20x one) is that near the edge of the lens the image is distorted. He said the hastings one didn't distort images like this. Is this kind a high quality loupe? Another alternative I was thinking of buying the 20x or 30x color coated correction lens loupe. (Gold in colour) but the hastings loupe (20x) is 44$. Worth the money?

Thanks for your help and sorry if this seems like a reptitive thread. I just have to be sure what I want to buy to detect counterfeits well, and someone mentioned the pocket microscopes are not very good. Here's the
link to the hastings triplet I found. Please let me know your opinions.

Thanks much.

mgoodm3

20X loupe is going to be tiny. I have a 10X and that gets pretty close. The loupe on Ebay is about $4 more expensive than where I commonly shop, Chuck D'Ambra.

solid

I use their 10x often, which is excellent and definately worth the money.

Have never tried the 20x, but I suspect it is as nice.

Ken

Shamika

What mgoodm3 failed to mention is that the more powerful the loupe, the smaller the lens.

I have a 14X B&L Hastings triplet (loupe) that I use at work and the lens is less than 1/2 inch in diameter. I use a 7X Hastings at home for my coin interests. It's kind of expensive, but I never ever have to think twice about the quality.

The real problem comes when you take it to coin shows. If you don't keep track of it, you'll lose it.

mrearlygold

Eschenbach makes really good loupes but are hard to find now.

TP

astrorat

That's the best brand loupe on the market . . . the B&L Hastings triplet. That is a fair price ($40) and about the same discounted price you can find anywhere else . . . plus "Collectons" is a good group of folks. I use Brent-Krueger. They have the same loupe for $40.66 and have great service.

Lane

MrDan

Maybe dumb question, but would it work to get those reading glasses to get better view and maybe combine with a loupe? I currently use a 16X loupe I don't know the make but I like it I use it for my real job (I service alarms) I use it to spot cracks in traces on circuit boards. I really like having one though. I was originally trying to get the 20x to 30x folding one but the EBayer that I bought it from sent a ridiculously cheap plastic 10x (if that) cracker jack box loupe. I also have one that I got from a Mineral supply (prospecting) store. That one is a 10x Tripplett Blue marbled with rubberized edge and has a case. I really like that one too. Still in search of a 20x or higher.

foodude

Eschenbach makes really good loupes but are hard to find now.

Iagree, that's the maker of the 5x I use. I think it ran about $55-65. There is a difference in quality. The lense is a bit bigger than an inch in diameter. I find higher mags or smaller lenses to be much less useful for grading. For other uses, higher mags, which typically have smaller diameter lenses are fine. The cheaper loupes tend to provide a less desirable, distorted image.

The loupes I use are 5x, 10x, and sometime 20x (I also have a 7x that I used years ago for grading, but found the 5x to be much more useful). As I mentioned the 5x was about $55-65. The others were about $35-$45 a peice. I use the 10x and 20X sometimes for varieties and authentication (i.e., when the 5x is not powerful enough). They are all on the higher end of the quality scale. If you are spending significant $$$$ on coins, to me the better optics are worth it.

mrearlygold

<< <i>Eschenbach makes really good loupes but are hard to find now.

Iagree, that's the maker of the 5x I use. I think it ran about $55-65. There is a difference in quality. The lense is a bit bigger than an inch in diameter. I find higher mags or smaller lenses to be much less useful for grading. For other uses, higher mags, which typically have smaller diameter lenses are fine. The cheaper loupes tend to provide a less desirable, distorted image.



Right. No comparison with the b&l's IMHO. I've got the 5X as well as 2 of the combination ones. Great quality.

Rgrds
TP

Aethelred

I would not trade my 5x and 10x Eschenbachs for any other loupe. While you can expect to pay about $70 each, you'll find that it was money well spent.

jhar

I want one of the Zeiss D12+D24 loupes, but I haven't justified the cost...

Linkage

Been trying to find one cheaper than this.

Cameonut

Ok, I am a newbie to the boards, but I have some experience with loupes I would like to share. I agree with jhar that the Zeiss D36 24/12 is the way to go. I have had one for over 2 years and it has saved me many times its $100+ pricetag by finding hairlines and other defects not found with my other loupes. I never leave for a show without it. First of all it is BIG. You get a large field of view with no distortion - easy to see minute defects. My only complaint is that it does not have a convenient place to hook a lanyard to - my wife tells me it keeps me from looking like a coin geek.

I also have 3 B+L loupes, two Coddington's 10x and 14x, and a Hastings triplet 10x. The only one I use of these is the 14x to look for die varieties. The Hastings is far superior to the Coddingtons.

I have tried the 20x B+L, the field of view is so small (and the loupe is so small) that I quickly dismissed it as unusable.

I bought my Zeiss from Joel Margolis - the US distributor. He can be reached at loupeman@bellsouth.net
Joel may have a better suggestion than the D36 for what you are trying to do.

Hope that helps.
Cameonut

mrearlygold

Zeiss is ok, but still not an Eschenbach.

Really.

Do whatever you have to do to get one. Search everywhere. You won't be sorry.

Rgrds
TP

jhar

Found this when I did a search for Eschenbach...

Linkage

mrearlygold

<< <i>Found this when I did a search for Eschenbach...

Linkage >>




Bingo!

Get these:
No. 9870-A - 1-1/16" diameter biconvex glass lens with Dual (4X + 6X=10X) magnification in a chrome plated brass body. $ 99.00

No. 9870-F - 1-1/16" diameter biconvex glass lens with 5X magnification in a chrome plated body. $ 72.00


The best.

Rgrds
TP

foodude

No. 9870-F - 1-1/16" diameter biconvex glass lens with 5X magnification in a chrome plated body.

Thanks for the link. That's the one I use. I'm on my second one. The first one went around the block too many times .... but they last for years, and years , and ....

GoldCoinLover

Are any of those Zeiss loupes 20x?