This thread is to share the ways we each may use to look closely at our coins. I'll start by showing three magnifiers that I like. First is what I consider the best $1 I have even spent on a numismatic accessory. I wear trifocal glasses but the closest range is still too far away for me to see coins well without magnification. When I was younger, my natural eye accommodation ability made this no problem but with age the lens of the eye hardens and loses the ability to focus. I have used a variety of magnifiers but the best results by far were achieved by placing a pair of strong reading glasses (mine are +3.25) OVER my regular glasses but a bit farther down my nose so that I can still see at a distance over the top but so that my close focus region is moved much closer. What makes this better than most magnifiers is that I still have 3 dimension sight so I can really see coins well. I would like to try something stronger (+5.0?) but it is possible that it might get too close to retain #D vision and that would be a mistake. My local Dollar Tree store has hundreds of $1 pairs of reading glasses. I suggest visiting the display and finding the one that works for you. I suppose you could order fancy glasses online or even have your eye doctor make perscription glasses with very strong bifocal sections but my $1 glasses work well for my purposes. Second is a bit my expensive but worth every bit of the $1.86 (postpaid) from Hong Kong on eBay. It took a few weeks to arrive but the little 45x mini-microscope with two bulb LED works well for looking at tiny things like letters, scratches or bubbles. Far too strong for general use, this little device combines with the reading glasses above to serve my needs at coin shows. My third suggestion is one of many relatively inexpensive stereo microscopes available on eBay or other places. I suggest you get one with 10x option rather than only stronger numbers so you can see larger parts of the coin. The one I have is no longer being advertised but there are similar units in a variey of prices. One for $127 comes with a digital USB camera allowing 2D photography but I have no idea how the quality would be. I know this is a lot more than my other suggestions but I really believe in 3D scopes. Be VERY careful not to buy a binocular microscope that only has one objective since these do not give a 3D view.
The first picture made me automatically reach to clean my glasses, thinking I was seeing double. I may look for a pair of cheap cheaters but for now my Optivisor serves nicely and I already had it for non-coin purposes.
I have the Optivisor but I do not like using it on a normal basis. I only use it when I need both hands free for cleaning in small areas, i.e, between letters. I also have the 45x mini microscope Doug shows, but it too is used sparingly because of the high magnification (BTW, this was one of my Christmas presents a couple of years ago from one of my sons). Mostly, I use Doug's method with the two sets of glasses. The readers I use are +3.50 and work well for me. I got this idea from one of Doug's posts a while back. I would love to get one of the stereo microscopes Doug mentions. Maybe I can put a bug in one of my son's ears for a future B-day or Christmas present. Hmmmm.... Anyway, I wanted to share one thing I got that seems rather useless and cheap. It is a 20X magnification glasses type watch repair magnifier with LED light. It fell apart within a couple of months.
i have a pair of cheapo reading classes i use as well, i think they are only about 2x. but i also have a 3x magnifying lamp, using one or both at these time i can usually see what i need. i have some stero scopes at school if i ever want to use them, but have only used them for coins a few times.
This ultra-optix 7x loupe works great for me. It's portable, has a good light source, I take it to shows. And the best part, I think it cost all of $12. The LED lighting is very bright and is great for seeing little details. I also find that 7x magnification is good for really seeing the surface imperfections. My only complaint is that you need to hold this magnifier within about an inch of the coin, otherwise it goes out of focus.
I use an Apex Examiner Plus scope as pictured below. It is great leaving your hands free for cleaning etc. I also have a digital microscope which is OK for looking at legends, but the photos that it takes make the surface look like the moon landscape.
No, I have a halogen light to the side. It has a flexible neck so positioning is easy. I forgot the spec for the scope: Apex Examiner Plus Flexible long arm stereomicroscope x20 overall magnification x10 widefield eyepieces
Ummm, my set-up is not nearly as cool as Doug's sweet double-eye-glasses thingy, but it seems to do the trick for this guy ... => I have a sweet adjustable magnifying-lamp situated overtop of my cool USB microscope ... ... oh, and I also have a 16x Jumbo Loupe (not seen in this photo)
I must be missing something but tell me: Is the power for the computers and camera provided by the bike in the background? I think it is wonderful you have found a way to involve your wife in your hobby! My $1 glasses and $1.86 toy are for the purpose of use at coin shows which is a bigger part of my hobby than is possible where you live (How many miles to the next ancient coin collector???). They rarely get used at home where the stereo microscope is my best tool.
ahahaha => no Doug, my sweet wife is not the power-generator!! ... oh, and please don't give her any ideas (she'll be using my leg-power to support her house-hobbies!!) However, that exercise bike is hooked-up to my computer (it's a computrainer) ... it is the coolest exercise bike "ever" (I can ride courses from all over the world ... they have 100's of world class bike courses loaded into the programming => soooo cool) ... when I'm riding the bike, I merely spin that computer-screen around so I'm watching the bike-course ... ... oh, but the most useful gadget of all, is the ability to save your rides on the computer and then ride against your ghost-performances (yah, it is like racing a ghost of yourself => it drives you to ride harder and harder to better your time ... it is used by many of the Tour-de-France riders) .... yah, if you are into exercising, then I highly recommend this exercise bike/program (oh, but like everything I own => it is a bit costly)
