GBrad Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 Looking for some input and professional advice on recommendations for a budget friendly coin scope, preferably one of those with a 4”-5” LCD viewing screen with a good degree of magnification and an SD card slot for pics. Up until now I’ve been using a large magnifying glass to quickly scan for key dates, errors, etc.. and then I’ll pick up one of my three loupes if I see anything of interest to further inspect. I saw what looks to be a decent coin scope on the website couchcollectibles.com Not too expensive and looks to have what I need. Anyone familiar with this model or can verify if this scope is a decent one?? If not, any advice is appreciated. Thanks! -Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VKurtB Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 (edited) I do not care for USB connected scopes even a tiny bit. Please look at so-called rock and mineral collector scopes on amscope.com. Go for a low power scope. The USB scopes tend to have horrific omnidirectional lighting which can and DOES create multiple highlights that can be and ARE misinterpreted as doubling. Don't do it, Greg. These are the ones most usable for coins: https://www.amscope.com/applications/hobby/coins-collecting.html Remember, there's no such thing as a "free lunch" and you get what you pay for. Edited March 10, 2020 by VKurtB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revenant Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 You don't need a microscope for hunting key dates. Any "error" or manufacturing flaw that you need a microscope for will be within tolerance and not something NGC will attribute or something an error collector will pay for. Such a tool might be helpful for counterfeit detection and you might just find it fun to play with. But you really shouldn't need one unless you're getting on a bit and the visual acuity ain't what it was (or you just have bad vision like my wife or cornea damage like me). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VKurtB Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 (edited) As Revenant implied, any "error" you need a scope to see, well, it's really not worth seeing, as there's no demand to speak of for such coins. If you have been led to believe all "errors" and/or varieties are valuable, you have been lied to, seriously. The only kind worth having are those with demand to purchase, and by far most do not have this. "Equality" does not exist in this area. Edited March 10, 2020 by VKurtB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgrinz Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 Dont spend a lot of money on a microscope. They have their uses but seriously I use my phone for most coin viewage. I use my microscope for VAM hunting. I use a USB one, its fine but you have to know when its a lighting anomaly, or a real error coin. Some pictures from a microscope are amazing as long as you are not going super microscopic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenstang Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 I don't know why people use USB's for coins. If you can't see it with a magnifying glass, it is not worth keeping. If you increase the size of coins enough/ you can find some sort of fault in most of them. The graders will not attribute anything that they can't see with a 5x so why bother. You would need to carry your USB around with you to show anyone what would be classed as a minor error with no value. Revenant 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Bob Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 The good ones do work well for viewing and/or taking pictures of repunched mint marks, which very often are in demand. The cheap ones do ok for viewing, but their pictures are less than stellar. I personally prefer a loupe, since I can vary the type, intensity, and angle of lighting when needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBrad Posted March 11, 2020 Author Share Posted March 11, 2020 Thanks Bob! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBrad Posted March 11, 2020 Author Share Posted March 11, 2020 Thank you to all who replied. I really appreciate your input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VKurtB Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 (edited) 17 hours ago, jgrinz said: Dont spend a lot of money on a microscope. They have their uses but seriously I use my phone for most coin viewage. I use my microscope for VAM hunting. I use a USB one, its fine but you have to know when its a lighting anomaly, or a real error coin. Some pictures from a microscope are amazing as long as you are not going super microscopic. My scope DOES go to this level of magnification just for this type of material shown by @jgrinz. For me, it's not so much VAM's per se, but looking at unnatural color progressions in artificially toned coins, which represent over half of toners out there. The light source that came with my Amscope scope is an LED ringlight, but each quadrant of it can be turned off and on individually. Lighting is soooooo crucial. There are more "false positive" pictures of supposedly "doubled" coin features due to lighting artifacts than real doubled coins. When I look through mine with a coin on the stage, and flip each quadrant of the ringlight on and off separately, it's like looking at different coins. Don't doubt that. Edited March 11, 2020 by VKurtB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
