magnifier for use at shows

I've never felt the need to use a magnifying glass to look at coins but, as I age, am starting to need help looking at fine details at coin shows to avoid surprises when I get home and photograph a coin. I just received a new toy which is advertised as a 45x microscope and includes a bright 2 LED light that really gets you close to little flaws that you will not see with the naked eye. It is only about 1.5 inches long and only shows a very small part of a coin (about 3-4 letters of a legend). It will never substitute for a real microscope but it does fit easily in the smallest pocket. At under $4 including batteries and postage, I believe it will come in handy when I go to the show next month. If it saves me from buying one wrong coin, great! It is obviously a cheap toy but the image is bright and clear after you adjust the focus to your eye.

 

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That's nice.

I know what you mean about aging vision.
I used to have great vision, but I have been having trouble lately.
I never used to need a magnifying glass, now I need one to read dates.

I learned my lesson when I bought a red-brown 09 VDB cent that seemed to have gorgeous details, got it home and found someone had put their initials in pencil on the obverse! The graphite was long gone, but the surface damage was there, and I couldn't see it without good light and a glass. Of course now I see it with a naked eye everytime I see the coin.
Btw: The details were great. Whoever wrote on the thing needs a good slap.

 

If you're looking for those pesky little varieties or errors, it would be ideal, but if you're just checking the overall condition of a coin, it might be a bit of overkill. For that reason, you may still want to take a 10x loupe along with you.

Chris

 

I agree fully. This is not a tool for seeing a coin but a small part and details like recutting, tooling and evidences of fakery that are unfortunately a part of collecting ancient coins. 45x is way too much to see what a coin will look like at arms length.

 

Never visit a show or a dealer without my trusted magnifying glass:

 

You must have really big ants where you live.

 

Wow! Definitely for fine detail, may even need a stand to steady. But, I bought a couple, found them on eBay for $2.13 from China.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Magnifying-...753?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a5c63a2b1

 

I like your new device, I always take a small magnifying glass to auctions and yard sales but dealers must shutter when you pull that thing out.

 

There is one problem with these conveniently cheap and handy things. I've noticed that the magnification is not always very clear. It seems one or all of the lenses tend to be uneven, as the image will have a concave or convex look to it. I've had great difficulty in viewing the entire image field with clarity. Seems like some areas are always out of focus.
I purchased one 20x loupe with built in led light. Cost just a few bucks from China plus free shipping. My older, US made, 10x loupe provides a much clearer picture and both my 10x loupe and the supposedly 20x loupe seem to give the same level of magnification. You may want to compare your new toy with 45x magnification on a good microscope to make sure it actually is 45x.

 

I got a good one with sharp images but can certainly see how quality control at this price level might be spotty and others may be less well assembled. For coin use, the exact magnification is not important. If I had a choice, I'd prefer 20x but when spending $4 one need not be as picky. Sharp is important. 45x is not. I will note that users not willing to adjust the focus by extending the tube to match individual eyesight will not be happy.

 

I have always used 5x for most coins unless its a really detailed study. I find ancients too porous and ugly under anything higher.

 

I like these better than the loops. I have a couple somewhere ??? but w/o the LED light. I may have to look for one o these,

 

That is exactly why I wanted the thing. I like photos of my coins but too many show porosity in the large photos that I did not see at the show seeing only the coin in hand. I bought a Probus that the last show that looks decent in hand but I can't take a photo of it to save me. The magnifier would have told me not to buy it. I have plenty of coins that photograph poorly but the idea is to know which are which before buying. After buying most coins from enlarged photos online, my skills of reading coins in hand and my standards are changing. I prefer smooth surfaces even on a big photo.

 

Well, "out of sight, out of mind" certainly applies here. Keep in mind that what you see under magnification is still the truth. It may be ugly, but that is the reality of coins.

 

That is a fact. I recall the day when coin catalogs were all black and white and I'd occasionally be disturbed by a coin that looked better in B&W than in color. Today we see so many coins sold with photos showing every pore that I wonder if the standards will adjust. On the other hand there are many collectors now who want unworn coins even if there is surface roughness. I'll continue preferring a smooth fine to a textured EF and I'll be happily in the minority.

 

I agree, but its not the reality of coins when it comes to grading. Grading should be done with the naked eye, but when we start needing help I don't think anything past x5 is doing us any favors in trying to grade a coin.

 

We'll never agree on grading because I don't believe the standard grading terms (VF) mean anything. My reason for buying a coin has nothing to do with it having a grade on the slab and everything to do with how pretty and how interesting it is. I have never seen a grading system that works for ancients. I wish I could find one proposed years ago (by Paul Rynearson???). I recall at the time thinking it was a step in the right direction but have lost my copy.

 

I'm not so sure you're in the minority on that one. =)

 

For circulated coin, absolutely. But, when you start getting into potentially high mint state coins, you do need magnification.

 

Maybe for world coins, but for ancients its either XF, gXF, or FDC, (something I don't know if I would ever have the nerve to claim on a coin I owned).

My basic point was for grading, if thats all you are doing, too much magnification actually makes it harder, since grading should be done with the naked eye. The only problem with naked eyes is when they start to not be so great.

Personally, I have always carried with me a 5x loupe for grading, and a x10/x20 loupe if I wished to look at fine details. Like other things in this hobby, to each his own.

Chris

P.S. Btw Doug, I am surprised you don't remember how much I appreciate an honestly worn coin. I am in no way a condition snob, I honestly do not think you can collect Byzantines or Sogdian coins at all if you are, (unless you just specialize in gold).