Why you should stay away from coins with fingerprints:

ANACONDA

There are two reasons why fingerprints can bother you:

They can bother you because you don't like to look at them or

They can bother you because you know that there are many coin nuts who just wretch whenever they see three parallel (sp?) lines.

Personally they don't bother me that much (all the coins I buy with fingerprints are the fingerprints of famous numismatists) however because they bother so many other people, I generally almost always stay away from them.

goose3

that one is not too bad.

I could live with it.

majorbigtime

Are you concerned about "new" fingerprints when submitting coins to the grading services?

magikbilly

Hi,
well, like a lot of things I guess, on the right coin they can be negligible. I don't mind them too much as long as they are not terribly distracting. After all, it is to be expected - these were made to be held in hand - bussiness strikes sure, and even the older Proofs. Unavoidable I imagine. They do look pretty bad on some 36-42 Proof Lincolns though.

Best,
Billy

Baley

I like that coin a lot, print and all.

ANACONDA

I do too but you should be careful about paying too much for a coin like that....it may cost you in the end.

lava

There are fingerprints and there are fingerprints. This coin is in contention for being the king of fingerprints. Previous owner had 17 fingers.

From the infamous 17 finger collector

mintluster

That coin needs to be dipped!

Shamika

Fingerprints are my #1 pet peeve. I think it's due to the subconscious idea I have concerning mint state coins which goes something like this:

Mint state coins are in uncirculated condition. Uncirculated condition implies that the coins have not circulated. And coins that have not circulated have not been handled by human hands. Thus a mint state coin with a fingerprint is sort of an oxymoron.

Consciously, I know better. However...

prooflike

I am one of those people that just can't stand fingerprints, or even the remnants of a print, or even the thought that there may have once been a print.

I just don't like FP's on coins.

islemangu

versus doctoring prints are as about as natural as textile...and not far off from the look sometimes really

Stuart

I would have more of a problem with recent fingerprints, the salt or acid of which still may be actively reacting to further corrode the coin's metallic surface.

I may be a bit more forgiving of older (and lighter less obvious) fingerprints, in older generation slabs, which may now be more stable and less chemically reactive and damaging to the coin's surface.

This is one of the additional benefits of the older generation slabs -- coins are more likely to be chemically stable since they have already been in those holders for many years, and if they were going to chemically react for whatever reason -- they would have likely done so by now...

jacktheknife

Fingerprints tend to look really bad on copper.

LeeG

Is there any way to remove them without causing damage to the coin? LeeG

Baley

"is there any way to remove a print.."

Maybe!

UncleWiggly

Fingerprints on copper are the worse.


Jerry

K6AZ

Did someone say fingerprints?

jdimmick

Yes, and it bothered me to no end. I bought a PCGS 65 Rd 09-s vdb a few years ago that was a stunner, bright fiery orange /red with the look of a higher grade except a partial fingerprint on the reverse near the bottom of the wheat stalk. When I first bought the coin I talked my self into thinking it wasnt bad, and hardly noticeable, but as time went by, all I could see was that damn print and it appeared to darken up over time. So that was the end of that one, blew it out at about even money(only becuase the price rose dramatically while in my possesion) and havent bought a finger printed coin since.

jim

LeeG

Thanks for the thread Baley. Lee

MSD61

It messes with the karma of the coin