Rig / Work Layout Or Setup

My "sophisticated" set-up....

For zoom pics = An ancient LG phone, $7.50 clip-on cellphone magnifier. Example....


For photography = Same ancient LG phone, 3 decks of casino playing cards or Nike high-top shoe & the correct angle/sunlight coming through the window. Example....


A food scale, numerous 3x5 inch paper sheets to wrap coins in until they can be placed in coin-flips & a 38oz Blue Diamond Almond plastic container to throw my "interesting" coins in, for future scrutiny.

@Sharks - I'll check out Irfanview
@coin rejector - maybe I need to play around with the correct distance. Used natural light from the window on a cloudy day and still received comments about too much light.

I use a cheap microscope plugged into my laptop b/c I to get a good postable image from a scope you need a computer screenshot.
However, for newbies, until you KNOW what true errors look like, I HIGHLY recommend not using a scope for the following reason:


As proof of this, daily we get a lot of people making posts b/c of the above.

For pictures though I use the following with an old iPhone 7s. I find its pics allow me to zoom for closeups as much as I have needed.
http://goccf.com/t/422658

I'm curious what a multi-monitor does for people.

I have a Samsung laptop connected to an old Dell monitor with a USB port extender thing connected to a 2 TB "backup" drive where I store all my coin stuff and occasionally copy it to the laptop drive (backup in reverse). I gave up on desktops since the laptop is just as powerful but portable. I hate using a loupe and use an old magnifying glass, which is probably 2-3x with a 5x insert, good enough. I take images with an old iPhone 6 with the coin propped on my bike trainer seat, which is next to a window for good natural light. Very sophisticated. I occasionally use an Amgen microscope to explore. You can discover legitimate varieties with a scope but if it takes that much to see it, collectors aren't interested.

I like the little plastic clip-on magnifier that I use. My iPad screen is easy to see, and more importantly, I can immediately snap a picture and upload it to CCF. A loupe just doesn't seem as effective, although I might get one someday.

I disagree a bit with the microscope humor, although the meme is amusing. Most people learn by making mistakes, and then being talked through the differences. It's always easier to work with a coin in your hand, rather than the tomes of information online. Nobody learns to swing a baseball bat by reading a baseball batting manual and then immediately hitting a single on the first try (except maybe Sheldon Cooper). Plus the vast majority of books, online articles, and videos talk about the coins and their features, instead of the process of identifying the features.

Forgot to mention... I email the pics to myself full size so they're as accurate as possible between platforms.#128516;

@RazorsEdge. Good morning. My magnifier is a Leuchtturm Phonescope. I got it from Prinz Publications. They are based in Britain, so since we left the Common Market they have suffered from glacially paced delivery. You can find them at prinzpublications@gmail.com. It's in the Lighthouse Coin Accessories catalogue, so anyone you buy from who deals with Lighthouse should be able to get you one. Hope this helps. Best wishes!