Quote:
Originally Posted by 900fine  Thanks ! I will be making a few changes thanks to this thread.
I do have one question regarding the following statement :
"One thing I would stress - it is very important that whatever type of lighting you use, that it be consistent. If you go to a show and buy coins under different lighting conditions than you are used to, you might receive a very unpleasant surprise when you get home and examine your coins! "
At shows, I have always used the dealer's lights. I have never felt uncomfortable; they seemed fine. They are usually incandescent, but sometimes halogen.
But that's not consistent !
It almost sounds like I need to bring my own lighting ! But that seems infeasible; I've never seen anyone else do that.
How can one have consistent lighting at shows ?
Thanks,
Ricky B |
If you are comfortable with the lighting you use at shows and you don't see things differently and experience unpleasant surprises when you get home with your new purchases, it sounds like you're OK.
Here are a few examples of what I'm talking about
:
1) Different lamps at shows and/or auction viewing might have different wattage bulbs such as 60, 75 or 100. If you are accustomed to using a particular wattage, it might cause trouble if you unknowingly use a different one. And sometimes by the time you find out it can be too late.
2) If you use a halogen lamp at your home and/or office but use an incandescent lamp at a show, you might not see particular flaws at the show, but notice them when you get home.
3) A collector sent a coin to me for me to examine because it had body-bagged at 2 or 3 grading services and he couldn't see/find the problem. I viewed the coin carefully under my incandescent lamp, and even though I knew there must be a problem and was looking for it, I couldn't spot it. I then tried my halogen lamp and saw the wheel/counting machine mark almost immediately.
4) Some shows have overhead lighting that can interfere with your getting a good look at a coin with a table lamp.
Just as an experiment, try viewing a few coins under more than one type of lighting and see what differences you can detect. Check and compare things such as color, luster, hairlines, etc.
I usually deal in higher grade mint state and Proof coins, so lighting might be more important to me than it would be to someone who buys circulated coins, for example. Still, cleaning, among other problems, can be much more difficult to detect under some lighting conditions than it is under others.
By the way, I know a number of dealers and at least a few collectors who bring their own portable lamps to shows and auction viewing. But that can be a nuisance and if what you're currently doing works for you, by all means stick with it.
