Vam hunting equipment question

safetymankwj

Hi all again, Bought two Morgans the other day. Raw but they both are I think 63. But what was neat was on the 1880 S the reverse has a die crack almost completely atround it . Diagnoised it as VAM 16R. It just looks so neat with the die crack aound it. It goes through almost all of the letters. The guy at the shop said he looks for vams with a 10 X loupe. I was asking him what i could use to make it easier to see . I have a 16 x loupe Sometimes I can not se what the books show but the books have to be at greather Maginifaction than i have. Any comments? I have the newest Vam book I bought last May.

DorkGirl

I just got this and really like it, check it out.......QE3

RobJoyce1921dVAMguy

For picking in the field, I use a 10x loupe. Get a good one with a wide field of view. At major shows there are usually a couple vendors selling loupes and you can try them out and compare.

At home, I work with a stereo microscope that goes from 6.7x to 40x. Good light, stereo view and high magnification really help a lot. Its amazing how much less eyestrain and how much better I see with the stereo scope. Invest in one if you are serious about varieties

I've tried a 15x and 20x loupe for the shows but they are just too tiny, the depth of field is too shallow (you really have to be steady to stay in focus) and they need more light. I stick to 10X. For Top 100 type work, 10x is fine once you get the hang of it. Only a few varieties with doubling will be challenging at that magnification level.

Good hunting!
Rob