The lost loupe

RYK

I am surprised that this has not happened before, but I misplaced my Zeiss loupe a couple of weeks ago. I have owned it for about ten years and have traveled with it to numerous coin shows. It was like an old friend.

I had since been using my old B&L Hastings 7x, but the small diameter and the required closeness to the coin and the eye was really annoying me. While I strongly suspected that the loupe was still in the house, given the way the kids trash each room, I figured it was lost indefinitely. Therefore, yesterday I ordered a replacement.

The competing model is the Eschenbach 3-6-9, and it receives rare reviews among forum members. I had an Amazon credit and used this to ofset the cost. I almost ordered a Zeiss hand magnifier to go with it, but I thought it would be excesive to do so.

At any rate, my son was cleaning out the spare bedroom last night, and I heard, "Dad, guess what I just found?" My old Zeiss!

So now I have two (or three including the B&L)!

Anyone else have a lost loupe story?

PerryHall

Been there---done that. Have you considered using a lanyard when you take it to a show?

IrishMike

Acheewawa, lost my little latin loupe lou down mehico way. Seriously one day 3 or 4 years ago, reached into my desk in my assigned spot for it and oops no loupe. Never did find it, I believe I left it at a dealers table at a local show. He claims never to have seen it. Must of owned it for a decade.

RYK

<< <i>Been there---done that. Have you considered using a lanyard when you take it to a show? >>


No way! I do not want to look like those geeks who do that (ahem, Lakesammman ).

Actually, I always know where it is at a show. It is more challenging in the house.

lcoopie

buy another and it will show up

TomB

From time-to-time I wonder where in the world my 10x Zeiss objective lens has gone, but never worry that someone else might use it. The piece is not user-friendly to those who don't know exactly what to do with it, but the optics are incredible.

SDSportsFan

<< <i>buy another and it will show up >>




What he said ^

I just have a simple H.E. Harris Model 1018 10x loupe. I was looking for it for around two weeks last year, tearing up my apartment in the process. Since it was coming up on a coin show I wanted to go to, I broke down and bought a new one. Then a couple days later, I spilled some food in my chair, and when I removed the cushion and reached down into the side of the chair..........

So now, I have two Harris Model 1018s.

Steve

FredWeinberg

Coin Dealers loose loops
more often than they
loose weight !

(yea, that includes me)

DaveG

I think this is why most of the pros I know use the B&L 5x Packette - you certainly never worry about losing it!

(Actually, I've never met anyone who has claimed to have lost a Packette. I've had mine since 1993.)

coinkat

A coin show would not be a coin show if I did not leave my loupe somewhere... I have been lucky and have retraced my steps and have found it. My loupe is probably 35 years old- I stopped using the one my grandfather gave so I would not loose it

AUandAG

Lakesammman

I'm not a geek .... rather, a dork.

Now you know why I own 3 of them.

JamesMurray

I have one here that was "lost" for almost 40 years. I got it as a kid way back in the day and when i left for the navy or even before id stopped keeping coins and it all when in a closet.The other week a parcel arrives from Mom..its all my crap out of the closet lol and there amongst the old cartwheel pennies and farthings was my trusty Harris brand loupe,its tiny opposed to the one i got locally at the B&M but ill always keep it now.

Timbuk3

I hear you loud and clear !!!

GeorgeKellogg

I'm glad that you found your Zeiss, RYK. I've got one too, that I've had for almost 20 years. I've misplaced mine a number of times, but have always found it. Shows are particularly problematic, as my buddies Al and "Dahlonega" have also got a Zeiss. I started putting a white sticker with my initials on it (to identify mine).

RYK

<< <i>I'm glad that you found your Zeiss, RYK. I've got one too, that I've had for almost 20 years. I've misplaced mine a number of times, but have always found it. Shows are particularly problematic, as my buddies Al and "Dahlonega" have also got a Zeiss. I started putting a white sticker with my initials on it (to identify mine). >>


Actually, I "bought" my Zeiss when "Dahlonega" said to me something like, "You need one of these. I will get one for you." The next thing I knew I was writing him the check. I did not appear to have my choice in the matter.

MsMorrisine

<< <i>A coin show would not be a coin show if I did not leave my loupe somewhere... I have been lucky and have retraced my steps and have found it. My loupe is probably 35 years old- I stopped using the one my grandfather gave so I would not loose it >>




this needs to turn into a "photo of my loupes" page.

is grandfather's anything fancy?

richardshipp

I found my old pocket knife while looking for my loupe. Then found my loupe but now can't find my keys.... Not really, but sounds familiar

coinman420

yes i have a lost loupe.

or at least i hope it is still in the house.

i got this loupe from a metallurgist who was the head of the QC dept. of the manufacturing company that i worked for.

it was the style pictured below but was probably made in the 1960`s. B & L and i got it in the 1980`s and it looked old then.

one day about 3 years ago my granddaughter and the family came over and her being 2 1/2 years old made a beeline for it seeing it sitting on the table. i beat her too it and tossed it somewhere out of reach so she would not loose or misplace it.

for the life of me i cannot find it.



now i`m using a harris 10X.

illini420

I lost my B&L 10x Triplet one time at a SoCal coin show. Must have left it at a table or it fell out of my pocket or something. But since I use it frequently, I think I noticed pretty quickly. I looked all around the floor in the 3-4 tables I last visited and found nothing. Bummer!!!

Around an hour later, I went back to that same area as I did one final check of each dealer's inventory to see if I missed any great coin deals. Right in the front of the case of a dealer right near where I thought I lost my loupe just happened to be a B&L 10x triplet... I asked if they had found it recently because I had lost one in that area earlier and they told me it had been in their case all day for sale... sure it was... It was the only loupe they had and they were selling no other supplies of any kind. Since I couldn't prove that it was my loupe and since I no longer had one, I asked how much and they said $5!!!! Their low asking price pretty much confirmed to me that they picked it up off the floor and just put it in their case. I bought it anyways, but I have never done business with that dealer since!!!! I also now have my loupe on one of those PCGS lanyards to prevent losing it again!!!!

coindeuce

I carry an Eshenbach 3-6-9 Packette in each pants pocket. Optical quality is superior for the cost ($7.95 each) Of course it didn't hurt to find them in old stock of a shop where the prices were stale!

MonteCarlo

I bought a couple cases of Kruss Weinschenk loupes because I'm always losing them. Seriously, I must leave half a dozen every year in my bank's vault while I'm there checking on my UNC Capped Bust Eagle collection and my hoard of 1796 Draped Bust Halves. One time, I accidentally dropped one in between the seats of my Bugatti Veyron... never did find that sucker!

RedTiger

I believe I have lost three and not found them. I don't know exactly where, when or how I lost them. Because I keep losing them, I won't spend much on them. Each time I lose one, I tend to get a cheaper one. The latest one is an ultra-cheapo at $2, hope I don't loose that one. Next step down is the 99 cent store magnifying glass. Yikes.

thebeav

I had a guy come into my shop about 30 years ago. He was looking at some coins and using MY loupe.
Sure enough, after he leaves, I can't find my loupe. I'm not saying he out-and-out stole it, you know how loupes just go into pockets.......
Anyway, about 3 months later, I'm at a coin show and I see this guy looking at some coins with a loupe.......MY loupe......(my name was engraved on it).
I come up next to him and ask to borrow 'HIS' loupe.......He hands it to me and I say , "Thank you very much".....Back into my pocket.......

PerryHall

<< <i>I had a guy come into my shop about 30 years ago. He was looking at some coins and using MY loupe.
Sure enough, after he leaves, I can't find my loupe. I'm not saying he out-and-out stole it, you know how loupes just go into pockets.......
Anyway, about 3 months later, I'm at a coin show and I see this guy looking at some coins with a loupe.......MY loupe......(my name was engraved on it).
I come up next to him and ask to borrow 'HIS' loupe.......He hands it to me and I say , "Thank you very much".....Back into my pocket....... >>



I bet he just went and borrowed someone elses loupe.

coinkat

Grandfather's was nothing fancy- I suspect he bought it the 1950s- not really sure why- he was not a collector

breakdown

I have seven or eight of them and have misplaced many of them temporarily but they usually resurface. I like to purchase at least one thing when I go to a show so if I don't purchase any coins, I often end up buying another loupe. Although not that expensive, my favorite is my Eschenbach 4/80.

Topdollarpaid

I have a lost loop story....

I was at a friends house one night looking at some coins and low and behold he has my 30.00 loop on his table. I say to him hey there is my loop, he said that's not your loop...

I said sure it is it has my name scratched into it see.

He said oh I guess it is yours.

Haha good try.. Ross

notwilight

<< <i>

<< <i>Been there---done that. Have you considered using a lanyard when you take it to a show? >>


No way! I do not want to look like those geeks who do that (ahem, Lakesammman ). >>



I've been told that wearing your phone on your belt is the modern replacement for a pocket protector to identify a geek. But it is the ones calling belt-clip-wearers a geek that I see on twitter and facebook with sad emergency messages "HELP, I've lost my phone and all my contacts, photos, and text messages, please send me a message so I can get your contact info back." --Jerry

ricko

I have several loupes, acquired over the years, but my best one is my Zeiss 3x6x9. I do wear that on a lanyard while at coin shows.. I don't care what it looks like, I am NOT losing that loupe. Cheers, RickO

johnny9434

<< <i>I have several loupes, acquired over the years, but my best one is my Zeiss 3x6x9. I do wear that on a lanyard while at coin shows.. I don't care what it looks like, I am NOT losing that loupe. Cheers, RickO >>

theres nothing wrong with that either.

Tassa

I don't lose mine. I just break them.

Nysoto

I have lost a few, but never seem to find them. This is the reason I use Belomo 10x loupes (labor is cheaper in Belarus). Never compared side to side with Zeiss, but they are very good, especially if you put some blue locktite in those metal screws.

pmac

RYK, I did the same as you, but without the kid.

DrPete

I know a dealer who has his initials engraved on the outside of the loops so if he leaves it at another table he has a chance of retrieving it. Consider having your loops labeled or engraved on the outer plastic or metal so you have a chance to be reunited with it should you misplace it.

PerryHall

<< <i>I have lost a few, but never seem to find them. This is the reason I use Belomo 10x loupes (labor is cheaper in Belarus). Never compared side to side with Zeiss, but they are very good, especially if you put some blue locktite in those metal screws. >>



I have the 10X Belomo. They make great optics and they are a good value. I read somewhere that Belomo made the optics for the soviet cruse missiles during the cold war.

mr1931S

Why risk losing your loupe at the show?

Simply hook up a full-sized microscope to your lanyard and be reminded at all times that you have not lost your magnifier.

Besides,you're sending this message to the dealers,

"Hey,there's a guy who knows what's going on."

jdillane

I left my Eisenach 3-6-9 @ my sister's home about 4 yrs ago. She doesn't keep the tidiest of homes and it hasn't turned up because I haven't replaced it. I have limped along with cheap substitutes.

Perhaps it is time to get a Zeiss and see if that will prompt the discovery of my long lost loupe...

BillyKingsley

Leaving a loupe at a dealer's table is nothing. I left my digital camera at a dealer's table at a car show.

Luckily for me, he was very honest and kept it behind the counter waiting for the owner to come back. I almost lost a $300 camera for a $5 can of spray paint...

After that I put a next strap on it. I really didn't want to but I felt I needed to. It's not a light camera, and it took a year of wearing it regularly before it stopped giving me a headache every time...it was worth it.

I've found that loupes are too small for me. I made an imprompteu stop at a coin shop and borrowed the store's...the magnification was great but nearly impossible for me to use. (my eyesight is not great to begin with)...at home I use an actual magnifying glass. Staples brand. Works for my needs, and I'm happy. When I remember where I put it...Normally I try to leave it next to my computer each night, but more often then not I forget where I put it as soon as I set it down somewhere.