Characteristics of cleaned coins

Unless you're trying to decide whether to give it MS67 or something better, too much magnification is only a distraction from good grading. I have a 5/7/12x which at 5x is more than ample for any grading issue. In volume, the tethered dSLR/bellows rig I proselytize about whenever possible is also an excellent CRH/variety searching rig, enabling you to observe the coin at huge magnification on your monitor in real time instead of squinting into an eyepiece. Now that I know, I'm not going back.

 

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Like I said. I buy what I like. Vintage or modern. BTW. I don't use a loupe. I use a 3 inch round 10X hand magnifier. Loupes are best kept for jewels.

 

G.D.J.M.S.P. That's a long name. Shouldn't the "D" come first for Doug? I only have three; a first name, middle name, and last name. I hope to know you better some day. In the meantime, I'm going to ask around the FUN show as you have left several clues to what you have done in the past with ANA handouts, etc. Also, most of us old-timers eventually get down to FL.

 

He's always done things on a big scale.

 

Perhaps another clue!

 

Just checked the Redbook contributors...no Doug. What size??

Serious question. I spoke earlier today with two long-time professionals. One never joins chats (In his opinion too much ignorance, fighting and WADH - I really like that image) while the other only does "NGC" and "PCGS." As I wrote before, I just discovered these boards. I think the threads are great teaching tools. The groups have been around a long time. Did an organization start them. Who runs them? Coin Community? Coin Talk? I plan to see if the ANA has one too.

 

PCGS and NGC have bespoke, company-controlled and sponsored forums. Both are tremendous resources populated by some really senior players in the hobby. PCGS has a deserved rep as a bit...hard...whereas NGC is - to my mind - an altogether more pleasant place to interact. CT, along with CCF and others, are private places formed by individuals with interest in numismatics. Some, like CT, had the luck to grow into a going concern. I am formerly Staff at Coin Community and could speak with more authority regarding its' origin, but respect for CT's prerogatives forbids.

All of them are resources of incalculable value to the hobby. Online forums have revolutionized numismatics, for the good.

 

That's exactly what I wanted to know + I learned the meaning of a new word. Are you posting at NGC? I know David Lange does as ne works there.

I use different "names" on CCF and CT and will possibly add another when I join NGS & PCGS soon.

 

On any given day I might post on almost any forum - I'm a member of all of them, usually under this nick - but my passion is educating newer collectors so I generally post the most where I find the most traffic from them, which is here now. The PCGS and NGC fora are less involved with new collectors than most others.

 

What would be "good CRH/variety searching rig" for monitor real time use?

 

That'll be budget-dependent. I use the same rig built for coin imaging, a Canon dSLR/bellows/duplicating lens setup controlled from the computer by Canon's Zoom Browser software. You could duplicate it for about $400; it can shoot anything from full slab pics to a mint mark at 500px wide, and lets you study coins on your monitor in real time.

Many less-expensive USB microscopes can do the same - wire to your computer via USB and show the image on your monitor in real time. You can find them under $100. I don't have opinions on any of them due to lack of experience, but the only way a USB scope will match the quality of my rig is if you spend more on the scope than I did. Optical quality is not cheap.

 

Thanks for the info I know Digital Optics can be expensive but didn't know where to begin looking for specs on what is used. USB Optics can be used but what I have seen, some of those are definitely low end products.

 

I constantly struggle against an elitist attitude towards USB scopes, because the rig I use is so_much_better than even the most expensive among them. My attitude does not change the fact that there are some perfectly serviceable units in the category.

 

Are you going to the FUN SHOW in Tampa?

 

RATS! I was hoping to meet you.