Magnifiers

tas2826 · New Member

This post is not specifically about lincolns, although that is what I collect. My question is about magnifiers. I am still fairly new to collecting. I collect circulated lincolns. I know a lot of people on this board are probably moe the variety collectors but I was wondering if anyone had some suggestions on magnifiers for general grading. Currently I still use a cheap generic 4X I got at a hobby store. I have had a lot of suggestions for the following.

- B&L 7X triplet loupe
- BelOMO 10X triplet loupe

Anyone know of a good generic that is cheap? Or, has anyone ever worked with Donnegan, Selsi or Peak? Again, I am looking at the handheld loupe variety.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Troy

coppercoins · Site Admin

Troy,

Welcome to the forum! The recommendations you got are perfectly fine for grading. I don't know how cheaply you are looking to acquire a good loupe, but you can expect to pay between $75 and $150 for the top quality optics.

I personally am not a good resource of information on loupes, I have used a 16X Anco since I started, and have but recently moved to a Belomo triplet (10X) acquired from board member "Murphy." I like the quality of these optics, and am unsure how much Murphy sells them for - but you should ask.

.cd.

murphy · Senior Member

I use the Belomo 10x loupe at home and a Zeiss loupe away from home. Both have excellent optics...the Belomo is a little big, but I mostly use it at home at the table where I use it for searching through Lincoln cents (catchy phrase!). I see them sold for $28 regularly, some go for more some for less on eBay. I'll let you have one for $25 with free shipping. You won't find many deals better than that. I've got some cheap ones for $10 but their viewing area is maybe 1/3 that of the Belomo. EMail me if you're interested. Thanks.
murpht@insightbb.com

bruce 1947 · Advanced Member

Hi Murphy
On the belomo 10 x loupe you sell, is the over all size of the optics about the size of a quarter? My 10 x loupe is the size of a dime, hard for my old eyes to see through at times need something bigger.

Gabe · Senior Member

I use a 16x for variety searching and a 10x for grading. The 16x is too powerful for gradind, and you will be picking too many minor stuff if you try to grade with a 16x.

I paid about $15 for my 16x and bought my 10x for under $20. They work perfectly fine, and have not had any problems using them.