Eyesight-the bad news that we would all prefer to ignore
sellitstore
Posts: 2,599 ✭✭✭✭✭
I feel like this is the 800 lb elephant in the room.
When I was young, my eyes were good-really good. It seemed that I could pick up detail on coins that others, even of my age, couldn't make out. In some ways, I was actually able to grade coins better without a glass. A glass was only used to see really microscopic detail. At the same time, I couldn't understand how some adults couldn't even read the date on coins. Were their eyes really THAT bad?
Well, yes. Now my eyes are THAT bad. I asked a 50+ year numismatic friend of the same age if the same had happened to his eyes. He didn't want to discuss it but acknowledged that yes, it had.
It's a sad reality that our eyes are only at their peak for some of our lives. The implication is that our oldest and sometimes greatest numismatists are probably not as good as they once were, at least eyesight-wise.
How are your eyes holding up and what is your approximate age?
Comments
I am nearsighted,
If I remove my glasses and bring the coin close i can see very well without a loupe.
I always wondered whether viewing coins under a loupe for hundreds of hours over these years effected my eyesight. In my sixties and need my reading glasses everyday.
Taking my glasses off is what worked for years but no longer works. I just can't focus the way I used to be able to focus up close. Haven't tried reading glasses but I guess that I should. Duh.
I used to be near sighted and it was like having a built in 2X magnifier. Then I got cataract surgery and now I have good distance vision but need reading glasses to see up close. Cataracts are like gray hair in that everyone gets them if they live long enough. A good magnifier with a good light source makes all the difference when viewing coins.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
Same here, except the glasses I wear are shaped such that I can easily look down and not be looking through the lens, so I don't need to remove them.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars
Nearsighted, with countless floaters. I can see well very close without correction. At coin shows, I have to adjust and remove glasses at different phases of browsing dealers' offerings.
Collector of Liberty Seated Half Dimes, including die pairs and die states
Exactly my situation.
I can still see OK without cheaters, but I don’t know for how much longer.
“I may not believe in myself but I believe in what I’m doing” ~Jimmy Page~
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947)
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
What is bad about it? I am well into my 60s, and my coins never looked so good.
Farsighted since I was 45 years old.
65 now and have had to slightly increase the power of the cheaters over the years.
Hopefully I never get to look like this at a coin show...................
"“Those who sacrifice liberty for security/safety deserve neither.“(Benjamin Franklin)
"I only golf on days that end in 'Y'" (DE59)
Similar for me. Born with one eye more or less blind, the other eye so severely nearsighted that the eye doctors told me I had the equivalent of a 5x loupe when I took my glasses off. I used to be able to spot the tiniest of defects if I held a coin about 4 inches in front of my good eye if I took my glasses off. Then I developed a cataract in my good eye. After cataract surgery I’m now farsighted. I can see the craters on the moon, but can barely see good enough to shave in the morning even with reading glasses on. I couldn’t recognize people for a couple of weeks after the surgery everything looked so different.
Now I can only see details on coins with reading glasses and even then nowhere as good as when I was near sighted. All my coins that used to look scratched up to me look perfect now. For new purchases, I now focus on overall eye appeal and looking for small hairlines and hits isn’t as important anymore.
Even more recently, I had vitreous detachment where the membrane in the back of my eye came loose and it sags down and creates a huge ring of floaters that moves around in the center of my vision. So I have to shift my eyes a bit back and forth to see the details clearly. They even tried to take my drivers license away from me. They made me get notes from my eye doctor and take a behind the wheel driving test. They failed me saying I hesitated and blocked a lane when pulling out. But I took driving lessons and took it again and passed.
I’m 62
Mr_Spud
It's the way of the road Bubs...
Hopefully your knowledge of coins gained over the years helps to offset the vision issues, I have noticed a decline in the past 5 years in my vison as well.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
count our blessings now for we not know what tomorrow brings, said someone
Got glasses when I was 11 (probably needed them way earlier) and it’s gotten progressively worse. I’m 42 now and even struggle to use a loupe if the light’s not great. I mostly wear contacts but if I don’t have them in I can still get some pretty good detail way up close.
Fantastic Thread! I, as a young buck had 20/40 vision. 50 year old me needs to have his glasses on at night to not kill someone on the road.
https://www.ebay.com/mys/active
Well there's some consolation in seeing so many others with issues, too, but it makes me wonder how we are able to do what we do and do it well. I can't view and grade nearly as fast as I used to but I guess that I won't be pitching for the Yankees, either.
I imagine it'll be tough going in the future for our YN's. From staring at a tiny phone screen all day to going home to a 72" TV. That'll give the ol' eyes a workout.
Just about 40, I've noticed I can't hold things as close to my eyes as I used to be able to. No glasses required and I consider my vision to be pretty good, I think my left eye is a little better than my right.
Collector, occasional seller
I’m 72 and my eyesight is noticeable worse than just a year ago. I used to get my glasses renewed every 4 years. Now it’s at least two years and probably going to have to get new glasses after just one year this time. I’ll have astigmatism and it sure can hold me back with coins.
Thank goodness for slabs!
Great vision until around 45. I'm about to turn 54. I was able to see dates and mintmarks very clearly without magnification. Now, forget it. I need 1.5 readers to see them.
Just had my cataract surgery ... gee now I can see my golf ball when it hits the greens. The side benefit - I can view my coins clearer .. before surgery, even a loop did not help much on my right eye. Browsing at a show was even much improved. Yea - getting old is tough but not wearing sunglasses did not help
Vision was sharp until I hit 45-46 yrs old @ 10+ years ago. That’s when I realized I could no longer focus on the details of small denomination coins. I eventually sold a nearly complete set of Charlotte $1 and $2 1/2 gold coins because I could no longer really appreciate them with the naked eye.
I am stuck in a loupe at 72! LOL😂
Wayne
Kennedys are my quest...
They are going to start slabbing coins in braille.
My advice to you all is take a vitamin and supplement formula designed to ward off eye problems. I specifically take a multivitamin tablet vitamin C 500 MG and vitamin E 200 MG and Bilberry supplement only by a company called Life Extension 100 MG. I am 72 and still have very good vision. Protect it, sunglasses a must with blue blocking capability.
Hope this helps.
I'll be 68 in about 5 weeks. Always had 20/20 until about 50. Got readers for.....reading. 1.25 magnification. About 58 or so I moved up to 1.50. Now at 1.75. Can't bring myself to go to an eye doctor although it's coming.
here is why you should go sooner rather than later: Glaucoma is a real thing. Untreated, it will cause total blindness. It happens to regular people. I take simple eye drops daily to keep it in check.
Accurate inspection within seconds, (with a glass) like a blink of an eye, (press is running at 10,000 + an hour) 47 years, 8+ hrs on any given day of the week (deadlines) was just another day on the job.
My eyes were pushed above and beyond, now that I think of it, without any questions from anyone.
Our color blind testing was given with every job jacket.
Eye charts ? Just another job jacket.
Its obvious that as we age our eyes get weaker, and those unluckily born with poor eyesight only seem to get worse. A loupe or large magnifying glass turns around our eye weaknesses so I don't see (pun intended) the problem
I will be 80 in a couple of months. I have diabetic retinopathy in my dominant eye. I’m slowly losing my sight in this eye. I can’t see my Liberty Seated coins well enough to identify different varieties. I have a pretty powerful microscope and can’t even see them with that. And this sucks. I’ve had eight injections in my eye with no help. All you young guys enjoy studying your coins while you can.
Why not? Sometimes it seems they're graded that way.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars
I need glasses for at least the last 10-15 years for distance but since I do not own a car and take public transportation I keep pushing it back. I am in my early 40's and once I get old were things get worse I will buy glasses. I have insurance so I have no true reason not to get glasses except going out of my way to buy a pair. I guess I can just it done at Costco when I am out shopping.
Problem is your eyes get use to them and when you take them off you feel blind that is one of my main reasons of not getting a new pair once my old pair broke about 15-20 years ago. And I just HATE having to clean them over and over because I touch my face a lot by habit.
Coin collecting interests: Latin American early pillar 1 reales
Sports: NFL & NHL
Throw a coin enough times, and suppose one day it lands on its edge.
Hey Sellitstore - here is the scope- its true aging stinks and I think everyone would agree with you including me. I was probably the one you are referring to as the 50+ numismatic that you were able to grade better than me. I think thats true and you were able to grade better than me. I give you that. Going to a coin show nowadays with my reading glasses over my contact lens I still can't read the PCGS label. So sad. Why in the world I still collect smaller coins, clearly shows I haven't progresses. Still enjoy collecting half dimes and dimes, when I should be collecting halves and dollars - go figure. Some good news is I now defer to my son to help grade some coins and he has a grade eye. Pitching for the Yankees - Remember you don't have to pitch for the Yanks to have a good time - remember game 5 of the 1976 ALCS when Chris Chambliss hit a walk off home run and we crashed onto the field on Yankee Stadium. Pretty cool. Today, the Yankees are bring me back to the stadium on opening day to hold the American flag during the National Anthem during the opening day ceremonies. Pitching for the Yanks- still working on it but I think my chances are smaller than winning the billion dollar lottery. Aging just sucks and thanks for third party grading services.........
I’ll be turning 17 in a few months. For my eyes, I’m farsighted so I can’t really see things close up.
Just to set the record straight, I never thought that I was "better" at grading coins than you, just that maybe I could see the coins better than many other collectors of my age. I'm not sure if I was actually seeing the coins better than you, but now were both in the same boat. In any case the eye that you do have is one for beautifully toned rare Bust coins. Not the common halves that didn't actually circulate and are around in higher grades but the lower denominations that are truly rare in high grades. And you patiently choose the most beautiful examples for your collection. You play this game well, my friend.
Yes, those Yankee memories are great and the fact that you get to hold the American flag there on opening day must be a very rewarding accomplishment. I know what a big fan that you have always been and continue to be today. I'll be watching today to see if I can spot you. Congratulations, and I hope that you have a great time at the Stadium today.
Hey Sellitstore -
I was very exciting hold the American flag during the opening ceremonies at Yankee Stadium. Had a great time until the game began. Yankees lost- Ugh!
I guess the Yankees eyesight ain't that great today!!!! LOL
64 this year - like my favorite coin grade! I don't HAVE to wear glasses as I now have monovision; I had lasik done over 25 years ago and one eye is still corrected for distance but the other has reverted back to being nearsighted. So I can wear regular sunglasses and don't NEED corrective lenses for driving. But I do find that even my nearsighted eye has aged to the point where I have a difficult time reading small type (like medicine bottle instructions) and I can't make out coin details like before. So, like many or all of the other old fogies out there, I find that I need reading glasses and/or some kind of magnification in order to appreciate my coins. And I now I really like larger coins - haha.
So.... Look for that big green sticker on the slab and you will know that younger and great eyes have looked it over for you................
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I've had relatively good eyesight for distance but need glasses for TV, computer, etc. Until Feb 2023 when I had a blood vessel blow up in my retina of my left eye. Now, pretty much blind in that eye. Doc said it should heal but it hasn't. Then said it was Macula degernation, age related as I'm 77, and have had injections but no help.
Sucks, and I have to take a driving test this summer...hope I can pass. If not I'll be thumbing it.
Have to keep that eye shut as it now interfers with vison overall. Arg matey (pirate yell).
bob
When I was young and had 20/15 vision I remember feeling sorry for my Dad who could not make out all the fine details even wearing his glasses. Now he’s gone and my vision is where his was. I can examine a coin better now by taking a photo and looking at that.