New Member From South Florida USA

Hi All - Just returned to the hobby after 50 years. Focus is on GB 1840 to 1880, Imprimaturs and Plating the Penny Reds and Penny Blacks. I hope I am up to the challenge.
Any recommendations on a decent scanner? I tried one of the cheap Chinese microscopes and was not impressed.

Waving to you from Riverview, FL Autoy. Welcome back to the hobby! Can't help with the scanner suggestion but sure you'll find some advice here.

Welcome from central Florida.

That's an interesting challenge/objective.

Look forward to following your progress.

autoy,

I use an off the box store shelf HP4500 office jet multi unit. It works just fine especially if you set the dpi (pixil density) up to 600 or more when you want to maginfy in to small detail.

Collecting for the enjoyment of collecting, whatever that might be, is the name of the game. Don't hesitate to ask questions especially if you need basic information and especially more advanced sources of information for any possible topic. You should be able to find folks on this board a little further along on their collecting journey glad to share experiences. Russ

Welcome back, Autoy, to this wonderful hobby. I use several pieces of equipment to help me identify stamps. (Definitely an overkill according to my better half.)

When I look at early GB and try to see plate numbers, etc., I use a Celestron USB microscope. This is quick and easy to setup and look at those features of interest. It also takes pictures, but usually only of a small area. USB microscopes are usually small and mobile, so easy to have on your desktop and easy to move aside when you don't need it.

For scanning, there are many, many options. I use an older Canon LiDE 220 which, with manipulation, can scan up to 4800 dpi, which is way too much. Usually 600-1200 is plenty. This takes longer than the Celestron, so I only scan when I need a picture of the entire stamp to put in my files.

For specialty looks at watermarks (which you probably don't need for GB stamps), I have an AverMedia projector. This one was difficult to find, but allows you to have backlit pictures, so you can see exactly where the watermark lies, it's orientation, and whether it is a potential cause of something odd on the front side of the stamp. I only use it for watermark questions. Most people use watermark fluid, then try to take a quick picture or a scan, with limited luck.

There are several threads on here about the best models to get. Use the search function for more info. Have a great time and welcome to the team.

Greetings from Tampa autoy and welcome to the forum! Would be awesome to see some images of your collection. Do you collect any Commonwealth, or strictly GB?

Thanks for the guidance - I am not very computer savvy so please bear with me. One more question please.
Can anyone recommend an honest expert in the South Florida area? I have several Penny Blacks that I would
like to have authenticated. I am located in Bonita Springs.
Again - thanks for the welcome and I look forward to working with you all.
Best regards
Dave

Scanner:
Epson "Perfection" Series V Photo
Used for 15 years without issue, until this year.
Seiko Software built in.

This scan brought to you by the Epson V200 Photo (Circa 2011 $180)

Dave-

The most knowledgeable dealer near you is New England Stamp in Naples. They may be able to help with plating of Penny Blacks- especially Gary who is the son of the owner. That said, they could not be expected to help with ID's for free. Is your goal to plate items for your collection, or to sell some of them?

Hello from Alva!!

Ken

Shout out from Parrish!

Tom

Welcome to the Stamp Community! I'm also here in Florida, so I'll look for your posts.

There was a pretty good discussion of scanners for the purpose of plating at this thread:

https://goscf.com/t/76877

For microscopes, I love my Nikon SMZ-1B stereo microscope. If you can find a rebuilt one, the price isn't too bad. I paid $325 for the one pictured below. The Nikon SMZ-1B uses the Greenough optic design; it has two objectives lenses on the bottom and the exit axes of the eyepieces are divergent about 7 degrees, not parallel. The guy who sold it to me is quite an expert, and he told me he'd never met anyone who could not immediately merge the binocular images to get stereo vision.

Welcome. I am in Bradenton, FL and can confirm the forum has been most helpful in many ways. The tech wizardy shown here is remarkable and I have learned quite a lot in terms of managing the images. You can see what I have posted (I think) and see that my images have come a long way in terms of quality. I use HP Office jet pro and downloaded the VueScan that was recommended here. It has helped me along with no real issues other than the investment of time which I can say was well worth it.

Welcome Autoy. I am not from Florida or into plating, but I am sure you will enjoy connecting with those on this forum. I have had many "hiatuses" in my collecting but 50 years is a long time to be gone. Have you always been into the same part of collecting? Do you still have your 50 year old collection?

Welcome to out site.