Thought For TPG Slabs

My eyes are aged and it is difficult for me to enjoy smaller coins. I was looking at this one this morning and a thought occurred to me..... What if the TPG’s offered an option for the viewing area of the slab to be slightly convex giving a slightly magnified view of the coin. It would make it easier for old farts like me to enjoy smaller coins. Just a thought.

 

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I'd think it'd be better and simpler to develop a loupe or mini microscope you could kind of clip to the slab and view the coin that way. I don't think I'd particularly want "magnifier slabs."

 

Although it would be nice for those that don't see very well. Scratches etc. would end up severely distorting the coin in the long run.

 

Interesting idea! I think it would be hard to make it work, though -- a single-element lens made out of slab plastic would introduce distortion, and make it nearly impossible to get a good photograph of the coin. Plus the high point in the middle of the lens would be a scuff magnet.

Then again, I'm speaking from a position of privilege. I'm old, wear bifocals, and really need trifocals -- but underneath it all I'm nearsighted, which means I can hold a coin a few inches from my nose and focus clearly on it without glasses. It's like having a loupe everywhere I go.

How about a widget that clips onto your phone and holds a slab? That would give you magnification, photos, and even videos of how the luster shifts as you move the coin under a light source. Okay, it would block the light source, so maybe not such a great idea after all...

 

Yeah.... Not at all practical at all, I reckon.... Ah, but for a flash of brilliance.... Been a difficult thing spending fifty years of my life with perfect vision only to have it deteriorate in the last ten years to the point that I have to keep two pair of glasses anywhere I go.... I hate that I have felt compelled to gravitate toward larger coins lately. On smaller coins I find I have to photograph them to enjoy.

So tell me more about these trifocals you speak of....

 

They do have these for your cell phone. I have never used them, but some folks do for close up shots on MM or minor doubling, Might be worth a try Randy.

 

It could definitely be made to work. At what cost? Unless it's cost effective for the TPG'ers forget it!

 

Dude, I wonder how many of us like this are coin collectors? I usually wear 30 day contacts, but when I want to "coin geek" I take them out and wear glasses because I am extremely near sighted. I only need magnifiers if I have contacts on, with glasses I can take them off and see like 3x magnification with just my eyes. I always thought I was a really weird oddball because of this, and now I find out about other oddballs!

 

There we go. Let Rolex partner with the TPG'ers, then show me the cost.

 

I can see it now. The crook on the street corner that would open his trench coat and ask a passerby, "Do you want to buy a Rolex?" now asks, "Do you want to buy a '55 Doubled Die?" ~ Chris

 

my Dad uses one of these except it is lighted and has a focusing dial.


just put it right on the slab

 

A bigger hand held magnifying glass can be good too. My grandfather used one at times to look at stuff. Thankfully with my contacts I can see fine distance and up close. Without I’m practically blind

 

Cause and effect are a little muddy here, I think.

I started reading at age 2 or 3, and spent a whole lot of my childhood with my nose buried in books. I've seen claims that you don't get nearsighted from spending too much time in close-focus, but from what I know about how eyes develop, it seems you'd almost have to.

So, do we gravitate to things like coin collecting because we're nearsighted? Are we nearsighted because we gravitate to things like coin collecting? Maybe both.

I do know one causal relationship: when laser corrective vision surgery started to become reliable and affordable, I thought long and hard about getting it. The idea of 20/15 or better vision without glasses was tempting. But did I want perfect vision for anything far enough away (which would get further away as I got older), or did I want perfect vision for something I was holding in my hand? I decided I'd rather stay nearsighted.

 

Have you considered a Fresnel Lens? They are available everywhere in many different sizes and configurations. Try Amazon or other shopping sites to see the wide variety. Cost is generally very low except for true optical quality. For casual observation of a small coin, I think one of these that is credit card-sized might be perfect.

 

Maybe paying up for scratch-resistant or museum glass should be an option ?

 

I am the same sir. I have continued to think about it over the years, especially now since I could now easily afford it, but the 30 day contacts almost feel like they are reversible Lasik. I can play with coins easily with them out, and pop them in and have 20/10 vision with them for farsightedness. I actually see better with contact than with glasses, which only get me to 20/15.

 

Lucky man, the contacts didn't get me much better than 20/20. I loved 30-day contacts too, but once I started to lose focal accommodation, I just couldn't cope with them any more. Popping them in and out to use a computer or write in a notebook was a non-starter.

 

That is one of those flat lenses that you are supposed to be able to keep in your wallet isn't it? No, I don't think I have ever tried to use one.