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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 2083853, member: 19463&quot;]This thread is to share the ways we each may use to look closely at our coins.&nbsp; I&#039;ll start by showing three magnifiers that I like.</p><p><br /></p><p>First is what I consider the best $1 I have even spent on a numismatic accessory.&nbsp; I wear trifocal glasses but the closest range is still too far away for me to see coins well without magnification.&nbsp; 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.&nbsp; 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.&nbsp; What makes this better than most magnifiers is that I still have 3 dimension sight so I can really see coins well.&nbsp; 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.&nbsp; My local Dollar Tree store has hundreds of $1 pairs of reading glasses.&nbsp; I suggest visiting the display and finding the one that works for you.&nbsp; 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.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]388296[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Second is a bit my expensive but worth every bit of the $1.86 (postpaid) from Hong Kong on eBay.&nbsp; 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.&nbsp; Far too strong for general use, this little device combines with the reading glasses above to serve my needs at coin shows.&nbsp; </p><p>[ATTACH=full]388297[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>My third suggestion is one of many relatively inexpensive stereo microscopes available on eBay or other places.&nbsp; I suggest you get one with 10x option rather than only stronger numbers so you can see larger parts of the coin.&nbsp; The one I have is no longer being advertised but there are similar units in a variey of prices.&nbsp; One for $127 comes with a digital USB camera allowing 2D photography but I have no idea how the quality would be.&nbsp; I know this is a lot more than my other suggestions but I really believe in 3D scopes.&nbsp; Be VERY careful not to buy a binocular microscope that only has one objective since these do not give a 3D view. </p><p>[ATTACH=full]388300[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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