Best Loupe For Me?

If you have trifocals, you will just have to continue using them. For much greater magnification when examining coins, a standard loupe held in front of your glasses shoud be OK, but you will have to develop some patience and skill when using the loupe in combination with your glasses.

If that doesn't work, just try using the loupe instead of your glasses, but remember, the optometrist prescribed those trifocals for you, for a good reason.


I am a gem cutter, as well as a coin collector.
It is impossible to persue my gem cutting hobby without a good quality loupe.

I need to look for details in the facets of a gem thas can be as small as 1/1000th of a mm in size: things like tiny scratches, or tiny pits in the surface of a facet that I may be cutting. A facet may be as small as 1/4 sq mm in area, or even much less.
I have cut a round brilliant yellow sapphire with 57 facets, where the overall diameter of the stone could be as small as 1 1/2 mm in diameter.

When I read, I normally do that with the aid of 2.5X glasses. I do not have astigmatism, so standard single focus lenses for my glasses are fine.

If you have
normal vision,
near sightedness, or
far sightedness,
just use a squint type eye loupe, in the 10X 15X magnification range. The greater the magnification, the smaller the depth of field* (*range of sharp focus).

If you have astigmatism as well, you will have to use the above loupe in front of your prescription glasses.

For all other eye problems, you will need to consult with your optometrist or opthamologist for professional advice.


When I am examining coins overall, I will use standard 4X glasses for binocular vision, with eyes about 6 inches off the surface of the coin, (very useful for examing coins at public auction view days), or
an 8X three element in two groups standard cloth examination lens, which gives me a depth of field* of about 1 1/2 inches.
The eye is about 1/ 1/2 inches away from the lens, and the coin about 1 1/2 inches away from the lens on the other side of it, from the eye.

I would tell the optometrist or opthamologist that you are intending to use a loupe to examine coins. He / she may be able to advise on how to use a loupe most effectively, in conjunction with your prescription glasses. I am thinking if eye strain and headaches could be a problem for you.

A 10X loupe and a 5X loupe will both produce sharp focus.
For example,
With a 10X loupe, the range of sharp focus may be from 20 mm to 23 mm in front of the lens. Depth of field 3mm.

With a 5X loupe, the range of sharp focus may be from 18 to 25 mm in front of the lens. Depth of field 7mm. This loupe would be easier to use with a greater depth of field, but would give less magnification.

I don't think anyone is going to give a better answer to your question than sel691 has already done.

Should I purchased it at one of my local coin shops or purchase via ebay?

For what it is worth I take my glasses off when using the loupe. I have astigmatism that progresses with distance and the presbyopia that comes with age (I am 46). Using the loupe up close without glasses had not been an issue.

With that said, I have a few of the cheap Harris 10x loupes that I use...

http://www.wizardcoinsupply.com/pro...upe-10x.html

If you are not worried about taking pictures then look at a cheap USB Microscope that will put the coin up on the computer screen, that would give you a nice size coin to look at.

No.

Also, I'm going to respectively disagree with Mcshilling. I'm getting some pretty decent photos with my USB microscope. Check out this thread:

https://goccf.com/t/248499

My USB scope was $40, I consider that pretty cheap. But, a nice camera setup with stand and lights is hard to beat.

The point is, an USB microscope might be an option for a guy having trouble seeing his coins with a magnifying glass. I myself have bifocals and am nearly 60 years old, so I can relate to vision issues.