It depends. What do you plan to use the loupe for? If you are looking for one loupe to use for coins I would recommend that you get a 5X to7X Hastings triplet loupe. Bausch & Long is good and affordable. Eschenbach is VERY good but pricy.
2nd what Hobo said. I just purchased a Baush and Lomb 10x Triple Hasting for $36 from Wizard Coin Supply. When I compared it to my whittman 10x Triple Hasting (think it was $15-$19 range) let me tell you what a difference. B&L has a better quality lense: clear/sharper however the frame that the lens was in was plastic and the cover where you normally can put a finger in is a lot smaller than the whitman (which was all metal casing btw). Just on the lens along I would have to say B&L. Though the build quality while decent seems a little lacking especially when my cheaper loupe appeared to be built better. my 2 cents..
What do you plan to use the magnifier to see? For grading you may consider a 3x quality magnifier that allows you to view the entire coin while giving you some working distance to position the light. For variety identification and diagnostics, you might consider a 10x quality magnifier.
While these may be cheap, you pay for what you get. OP, It all depends on what you want a loupe for and how much you will use it. Will it be for grading, variety attribution, general usage, or...? This makes a difference. If viewing coins a few minutes a week, a cheap model may suffice. If you would be using it a few hours a day, spend the money on a Zeiss or Eschenbach... your eyes will thank you for it.
I just bought a 10x Bausch and Lomb Hastings Triplet loupe... $33.95 online. It's much better than the SE loupe I used to used. I use it for variety/die attribution.
I find it kind of ironic because I never use a loupe. I have a couple, but don't use them. But when I look at coins online, I use the magnification feature all the time.
I don't mean to hijack the thread, but how many of you use some sort of electronic camera/microscope/loupe to view coins on a screen? Any recommendations?
i probably look at coins couple hours per day, like to get into grading and variety more but all i have is a cheap 1 right now and i can tell its killing my eyes. thanks for the info
I own several that I would not recommend See my post above. For grading consider a 3x and for variety consider a 10x. If you are really looking at coins a couple hours a day, then you will want to purchase two quality items. For the 3x you should consider getting glass (not plastic). Definately get optics that include a cover to protect the optics when not in use. Bausch and Lomb makes a Hastings Triplet loupe in 10x that provides a good balance between performance, technology, and price.
