Handling coins

Goldfinger

I took a bunch of coins to my local coin shop today, a quite well-known rare coin dealer. (I don't want to slander anyone, so let's just refer to my local coin shop by the name "Stick's.") I had a bunch of coins in flips that I had a Stick's numismatist take a look at. I brought in about 40 raw coins, including 30 old gold. Nothing valuable to an establishment like Stick's, but quite valuable to me.

At any rate, the Stick's numismatist proceeds to take the coins out of the flips and handle them without gloves, putting his fingers on the surfaces of many of my coins. I showed him a 1878-S PL Morgan that's probably in the MS64 range. It doesn't appear to have been cleaned, but there's a blemish on the obverse that my numismatist helpfully rubbed with his finger, perhaps hoping to remove the mark. Um, thank you but I could have done that myself. Granted, he was giving me a free evaluation, but it isn't too much to ask for a bit more care.

-Jay

JrGMan2004

I agree with you... if I'm handling raw coins, I'll put a latex glove on...

ealandg

This is a HUGE no-no. If I am handling someone else's coins, I always treat them as though they were super-rare. If I do have to handle them without gloves, always by the edges, never the surface! I really think you should tell us who this is so we can watch out for him/her. I don't want 'em handling MY coins that way!

Tassa

Did you let him "handle" all your coins?

Cladiator

Yeah that is just crap behavior and the "stick" deserves to be outed and face the social repercussion of his/her actions. If they were my coins I'd have taken them out of his/her hands and given them a good "talking to" right before I left the store to never return.

Russ

<< <i>Did you let him "handle" all your coins? >>



Good question. If it were me, the "evaluation" would have terminated the first time a finger touched the surface of a coin.

Russ, NCNE

tjkillian

This is how my local coin dealer handled my coins one time when I brought them to him. I have not returned since.

Tom

EvilMCT

<< <i>If it were me, the "evaluation" would have terminated the first time a finger touched the surface of a coin. >>



Not only that, but the first coin touched would be paid for and owned by "sticks" after the groping. I don't touch my coins nor does anyone else.

Ken

MSD61

There is no need to handle anyone's coins in that manner!!! I will have to agree with Russ in that the first coin touched in that manner would have terminated the evaluation. Sometimes I am annoyed by the way raw coins are viewed by some. Just because it's not in a big named, high end slab doesn't mean it has no value

Goldfinger

I always wear white cotton gloves when I handle my coins. The extent of my own "handling" is to put a coin in its holder. When he touched the blemish on the PL Morgan, I let out a reflexive "Hey, careful!" and he handled the rest of the coins by their rims.

Still, I expected much better from "Stick's." It's great to have access to a dealer of their caliber. But this was the first time I've asked for an evaluation of raw coins.