Aging eyes..

blacksmoke

So assuming that there aren't many 16 year old members in this forum, what do we old farts use for examining coins? Currently I'm using a 10X loupe with I think a 30mm optic that I can stick a small LED flash light in for lighting. The problem is that the optic is so small, it's hard to look a coin over with my fat fingers in the way. I've looked at many different options on-line and can not find any local shops that carry items like this other than a basic magnifying glass. What are others on here using and how well does it work? Just looking for some good ideas. Thanks in advance.

drwstr123

I use a 5X loupe.

crazyhounddog

I use a 7X and a 10X loupe....If that's not good enough I have a 150mm macro lens so I can shoot the coin and blow it up to the size of a dinner plate. Of course this is only good for the coins I own. Can't do this at a coin show or shop. I too struggle with aging eyes.

Unknown

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TwoSides2aCoin

5x . Readers are +1.25 in the day. +2.00 at night. Eat more carrots, chase younger women.

drwstr123

<< <i>5x . Readers are +1.25 in the day. +2.00 at night. Eat more carrots, chase younger women. >>



Forget the glass...

Bullsitter

5X and a 10X

lkrarecoins

I switched over to a digital microscope, much easier on the eyes and neck....I just view on my computer monitor

blacksmoke

I'm glad I'm not the only one in this boat! I do like carrots. Younger woman are nothing but trouble and would rather spend the money and energy they require on coins instead. I've seen the big magnifiers like I used to use on bugs as a kid (yes to burn them with the sunlight, not to examine them) but only up to 5x I think and none with any light source. Haven't seen one in a long time but I remember great big ones, the size of a small dinner plate with light around the rim and you had to mount it to a desk or something. Just like the old desk lamps you could position and it would stay where you needed it. Maybe I should check antique shops.

blacksmoke

How much does one of the digitals run? I'm sure there's a broad range on the price depending on the "country of origin". ha ha

AUandAG

I have a 4x pocket loupe, a small 10x glass loupe for the desk and then this glass. My son had a rear projection
TV back in the day (remember those?) and when it died he tore it apart and found this lens that works perfect
for me and my old tired eyes. It's big enough to hold onto and the optics are startling clear! He takes everything
apart and never puts anything back together (anyone know how to assemble watches?).
bob

JohnnyCache

Getting old








JC

lkeigwin

Yeah, getting old sucks. But the alternative is a lot worse.

I normally use a 5x Eschenbach loupe, or the 3+6=9 one. But I shoot every coin with a 200mm macro. Nothing escapes a 4000x4000 pixel image.
Lance.

Cameonut

A 3+6=9 Eschenbach or a Zeiss D36. Both are well made and have saved my bacon many times over.

My best advice is not to scrimp on optics.

lkrarecoins

How much does one of the digitals run? I'm sure there's a broad range on the price depending on the "country of origin". ha ha

I know Dino lites start at $100 bucks or so....the one I purchased, the AM411T, cost me close to $300 w a gooseneck stand.

tahoe98

<< <i>How much does one of the digitals run? I'm sure there's a broad range on the price depending on the "country of origin". ha ha >>



...here's some stuff on a digital

ColonelJessup

<< <i>Yeah, getting old sucks. But the alternative is a lot worse.

I normally use a 5x Eschenbach loupe...
Lance. >>





I'm not near-sighted, but, unlike most other dealers, far-sighted, so I used a high quality 10X doublet from starting in 1975 or so. I've been using an Eschenbach 5X since 1985. These run about $85 from multiple familiar coin supply web-sites.

I value the Eschenbach 5X glass because it has the broadest range of vision and the least distortion; not just at the center of focus but also outward across a greater breadth.

Easily good enough for EAC and Seated type varieties, MPL's, full bands, and hairlines, including quite wispy ones, but not for MM variations and other "micro" work.

I LOVE using a tensor lamp (discontinued? - please make me wrong), though over the past ten years or so I have had to adjust to a low-power halogen.

I find that high-power halogens, at least for me, wash out some of the contrast or color distortion on a skillfully altered surface. But I'm zipping through boxes selecting by and for "eye" for what's worth magnifying, and the problem, while there, is no longer as great as it was 5 years ago.

If anyone has any idea of where an INCANDESCENT TENSOR LAMP (INCLUDING BULBS) might be available, I will be very grateful to have the opportunity to PAY MANY MULTIPLES OF THE ISSUE PRICE.

BustHalfBrian

Youthful, naked eyes

johnny9434

i use a 5x or 10x depending on the day. both work fine for me.

giorgio11

I use the Zeiss D36 and love it -- in-focus viewing all the way up to the lens edge -- although I do have a crappy 16x for CP varieties and die cracks and such. With the 16x only the center of the lens gives you in-focus viewing, the lens edges are all fuzzy.

Best Regards,

George

ricko

I use the Zeiss 3x6x9..... works for me and super high quality glass... Cheers, RickO

JohnnyCache

Well once again I've been able to gain some valuable insight from these wonderful boards.

For years, more than twenty, I had always relied on Bausch and Lomb Hastings triplet loupes.
So when I saw a number of board members referring to the Zeiss D36, I thought to my self "Could it really be all that much better?"
I quickly checked it out on Amazon, but having only a couple of reviews I was still a little skeptical as to what degree the D36 would be better than the B&L.
I have a national jewelry supplier not more than five miles from where I live so being compelled to compare these for myself I took a ride down.
I grabbed a coin and my loupes and headed out, skeptical.
I will attest, I was surprised at the difference in clarity and focus.
Although I could not exactly compare apples to apples in terms of magnification, having a 7x and 10x to roughly compare with the Zeiss 9x, the overall focus clarity was obvious.
As members have stated, you can get that edge to edge clear focus that the other loupes do not have. The B&L loupes, though still very good, are center focused.
One wouldn't think that would matter all that much, and perhaps it won't to some people, but I found the Zeiss to be more enjoyable to use, maybe less eye strain for me, I'm not sure.
In any case I wanted to say thank you to those that shared this information, I learned something new again today and my eyes appreciate it!




JC

silverpop

16x loupe

blacksmoke

Wow. This went from being a not sure what's out there to not sure what to try! I really like the idea of the digital and also getting something that doesn't focus only in the center. I have a 10x that had a 2 "C" cell flashlight thing attached to it with the old Eveready style bulb in it that I used when I was doing machine work. The flashlight died so I found a super bright LED flashlight that the optic head fit over. Works great on toned and dirty coins but if you try and examine a proof, you are pretty much blinded in one eye for about ten minutes after you put it down. I also bought (yes, ashamed to say this) one off of Ebay that has a few LED lights and an ultra-violet light for looking at bills but the optic is about the size of a dime. So trying to look at anything smaller than a half is pretty difficult when you have fatty fingers that take up a good portion of the viewing field.

Shamika

<< <i>Yeah, getting old sucks. >>



+1

blacksmoke

+2

thisnamztaken

One of these, depending upon the situation.

Unknown

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AMRC

New glasses every year.
A 3X Magnifier with light
A 6X loop
A stereo microscope
12 Meg Macro Photos

I guess I must be a really old fart.

blacksmoke

Last year I bought a 1999 Silver Proof set to fill a hole in my collection. I bought it from a seller on Ebay and when the set arrived, there was some light milking not mentioned in the description. I contacted the seller and he said he would send another set and to see if I liked it better than the first, and to let him know. The other set arrived and had pretty much the same light milking on it. I contacted him again and he said he would send another set and keep sending them until I found one I liked. I told him that wasn't necessary but I appreciated it and I would keep the better of the two sets and return the other. He contacted me again and said to keep both sets for my trouble. I told him I didn't feel right about it and would pay for the other set. We "argued" back and forth about me keeping the set. He pretty much insisted I keep it for my trouble. In our messaging, he told me how he was old and his health was failing him and he could only see a little out of one eye anymore. We finally agreed that if he ever needed the money for the other set I would send it immediately or return it to him if he wanted it back. No time limit and his choice. He only had a few other things listed and once those were gone, he hasn't listed anything since. We messaged back and forth several times talking of life, family and God. Then one day he quit responding and haven't heard from him since. I can only assume the worst but I will never forget him and will always proudly display both of my milky 1999 silver proof sets as a reminder that the world lost a good one and that sometimes what we can't see just makes is more important than what we can.

TwoSides2aCoin

^ Beautiful.

ColonelJessup

<< <i>New glasses every year.
A 3X Magnifier with light
A 6X loop
A stereo microscope
12 Meg Macro Photos

I guess I must be a really old fart.

>>



You're a pretty smart old coot.

I would think that the initial outlay can be amortized many times over by money both made and saved, with some secondary gain in terms of having more fun. . .

blacksmoke

No doubt. I have looked at just about everything mentioned in this thread and the price ranges are all over the place. I have a feeling it's going to be just like coin collecting, it's a matter of money and personal preference and depth of interest.

mozin

I have many lenses for coin inspection, including a stereo microscope. Most of the time my antique Bausch & Lomb slide out 5X works fine.

DHeath

I am currently doing research on blind and visually impaired (BVI) smartphone users to develop a social media platform where they can share knowledge on the use of smartphones and apps to improve their quality of life. One of the partially-sighted users I recently interviewed uses a pocket cctv with strong magnification to help him read. The BVI community loves the iPhone because it is voice capable. Many use an app called TapTapSee. TapTapSee is a free app which allows the user to take a picture of anything and have the content of the image described to them verbally. BVI users use this app to know which denomination of currency they are holding, learn the contents of cans or packages of food, know the color of the clothes they are picking out, etc. This app uses an algorithmic comparison against an image database along with crowdsourcing to accomplish its magic. I can only imagine how coin experts could use a strategy such as this to help their clients.

SaorAlba

<< <i>Youthful, naked eyes >>




Not for long!

blacksmoke

That would be awesome heath. So many could benefit. Including me some day I'm sure. ha ha. Hopefully not for a long time. Glad to see someone so passionate about helping others. SaorAlba, ENJOY THEM WHILE YOU HAVE THEM!! We never know when we're going to turn that corner.

CoinZip

I use my tablet.......

SaorAlba

<< <i>I use my tablet.......

>>



That is flipping sweet. I could use that on my coin roll hunting table instead of using a magnifying glass looking for mintmarks.

MICHAELDIXON

I use my Dino-Lite hooked to my laptop. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of it and I'm teaching this afternoon.

blacksmoke

+ 1 flippin sweet! What kind of $$cha-ching$$ we talking?

BryceM

Ha. Start collecting dollars and get out of the half-dimes?

Like many of the others I use an Eschenbach loupe when I'm at shows. Honestly though, for dollars, my go, no-go decision is based 90% off of my first visual look and maybe 10% on what I need a loupe to see. Dimes and smaller are a different story.

High-res photos on a big monitor (from a tethered camera connection) are amazing for looking at detail, varieties, and bagmarks. For those who haven't tried it, it's really not that hard to put a setup together. It's about 100x better than even a loupe, but the camera falls a little short when it comes to surface and luster evaluation. That's better done in-hand with a point light source.

blacksmoke

No kidding. With my fat fingers, trying to hold a dime and carefully manipulate it to get every possible view, well, I've flipped more than one out of my fingers. I want to check in to that set up for a lap top. Sounds like it would be worth it.

spy88

Go to eBay, don't even need to sign in. Type in "Magnifying loupe", hit Search and you'll see
over 4,300 listings for just about anything your eye(s) could desire (headband magnifiers would
give you "hands free" to hold that dime in both mitts to keep it from flipping!).

Be forewarned-----! You WILL get eye strain, a headache, or both while perusing the listings
to the end.

You can also go to "opticsplanet" eBay store. They have only 7 loupes to look at.