Best Loupe for the Money?

What is the best loupe for the money? I am looking to spend below $30.

When buying a loupe I know I want a large field of view, but are there other factors I should take into account? Do you have a favorite, and why?


Thank you,

 

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The Hastings Triplet 10x Magnifier ($36) is my loupe of choice.

You can get a pretty good Asian made copy on eBay for about $5. At that price use it for 2 years until it gets nasty and then buy a new one.

 

I use an SE 10x loupe. Picked it up for $10, works great. Had it for several years.

 

I use a Bausch & Lomb Hastings Triplett 10x. Costs more than the cheapo copies, but the quality is worth the extra price... just don't lose them!!! For most applications, a 7x is probably better than 10x though, but I just prefer the 10x personally.

 

I'm going to agree with illini. Go with quality glass, that's what you'll be happy with in the long term. I own several loupes but the one I grab first is the Bausch & Lomb Hastings Triplet 10x. I might pick up a 3x or 5x for a larger field of view, but for now the Triplet is the one I carry to shows and use almost all the time.

Quality glass in a loupe is not cheap, but it's one of those things you'll be glad you did.

 

I have five or six different ones and my favorite is one of the cheaper ones. It's called Swing Pocket Magnifier with 8X power. The critical thing for me is I like a magnifier where I can see the entire coin even under magnification.
You can find the Swing Pocket Magnifier at the bottom of this page -- it has a cheap swing pocket to protect the lens:
http://www.magnifier.com/pocket_magnifiers.htm

 

Here is my collection of magnifiers.

1. x5, cheap Chinese, permanently on my desktop.
2. x10, Eschenbach, German, good high quality lens for examining finer details.
3. x10, English, for slipping in my pocket and not having to worry about scratching the lens.
4. approx. x5 good old-fashioned magnifier with inset x10, cheap Chinese. For quick look at banknotes,and general reading of fine print in the catalogs (hey, we're all getting old).
5. x5 magnifier for measuring, another cheap Chinese.

The two that I use the most (1 & 4) are the cheapest. Sorry I can't give prices as I've had them all for years now.

 

If you're new and not sure how much you want to spend then...

Take a 1 cent, 5 cent, dime, quarter and whatever else to your local "drugstore". Could be CVS (Is that right or is it CSV?) or HyVee or Walgreens or wherever. You will discover that they have a delightful set of "loupes" for you to test at your leisure.

If you are more advanced or want to jump directly to the Bausch & Lomb advice given above, then that is good. Just don't want you spending extra money on something you may not be using in a year from now....

 

That's interesting. I've never used the #1 style. I'll have to look into that.

I've also used what was called a "Jeweler's Loupe" which was metalic and sort of looked like #3 - it had a 10x and then a 20x lens. I worked with that for a year because I didn't know any better.

I assume that is why I can't see out of one eye and am blind in the other.

The big mistake new users make is to assume that 10x is better than 5x (or whatever).

Fact is, your most useful coin "spelunking" will be done at 2x or 3x - at least in my experience.

Let the "Microscope" people deal with 10x and above....

Just my opinion.

 

I like my:

Eschenbach
No. 9870-B - 7/8" diameter coated achromatic glass lens with Dual (3X + 6X = 9X) magnification. Made with a fiberglass body and a dust proof closure. With a loop for carrying cord (neck chain). Completely distortion free.
$ 130.00

http://www.usrarecoininvestments.com/Loupes/loups_3.htm

I looked at it this way after buying one that I didn't really like I saved for that one as I should be the only one I ever have to buy.
But it's lots of $$$

 

Thanks GD,

At $7 and change, the Baush & Lomb 5x Packette is on my next order for supplies.

 

B&L 5x and 10x.

 

I use the B&L 5X packette as well, for anything more serious, I use a 2-90X Zoom stereo microscope. I like to be able to view my coins in 3D.

 

Doug,
I'm not saying that the one your talking about it bad but when your walking a bourse floor and pull up a nice raw piece don't you want to see the mint mark closer and stuff like that. I like to verify any altered surfaces and such when buying a more expensive piece and the loupe I posted allows that and a normal 3x or 6x view.
And what about if your cherrypicking for Vams or variety's?
The one I posted give you flexibility for both.

 

I use this magnifier. Got it off e-bay for less then 20 bucks. 30X36MM

 

Fair enough
You wrote so much I forgot the first sentence lol

 

Thanks for the info everyone. I've been wondering this as well.