Finger Prints

MikeKing · May 16, 2006 7:38AM

My attitude towards finger prints on coins has changed over the years. At one time they bothered me. Now, I actually kind of like them and won't let a finger print prevent me from buying a coin...SOMETIMES. Sometimes I just wonder though, does it really need to be there? Is this the reason why this coin is being sold? Should I hold off and continue looking?

What are your thoughts on finger prints on coins (from unobtrusive semi prints to whole finger prints (color neutral) over a lincoln face e.g., to major fingerprinting...?

Do finger prints in general if at all, lower the grade of a coin?
Do they generally lower a coins desirability?

Coxe · May 16, 2006 7:41AM

They limit the coin, lower the grade and make it less desirable and out of the question for some collectors. I have a few that don't bug me all that much though.

PerryHall · May 16, 2006 7:43AM

Finger prints = Negative eye appeal. Yes, it can lower the grade. If it is very minor and not very noticable, it will have a neutral effect on grade.

XpipedreamR · May 16, 2006 7:49AM

Yes, fingerprints are quite undesirable for me, and I generally move on to the next coin. I do have two coins, nice coins, with light prints. In both cases, the fingerprint is only a break in otherwise nice toning. None of that whitish milky greasy look. Pure metal between the few light ridges. On one of the coins, a Merc, I actually feel it enhances the coin. It's in the field in front of Liberty's face, and it looks like the sun beaming down onto her. Maybe I've completely lost it

I can't imagine the coin without it. This pic doesn't really depict it that well, though:

LanLord · May 16, 2006 7:51AM

Depends. And, no I'm I'm not talking about an incontinence problem.

I have seen some coins that end up with the most awsome toning on them, that is no coincidence.

Sometimes I see a print on an old coin and wonder who's print it was, that is always interesting. Was it someone buying food for his/her family? Maybe buying land during the move west in the early states? Or???

Other times the print just looks bad.

mdwoods · May 16, 2006 7:52AM

That's a nice Merc. It definitely hasn't been hurt by the print.

lurk · May 16, 2006 9:47AM

I can't stand prints. I try to keep an open mind, but even on the rarer coins I've seen they just deminish so much of the appeal. They just cause so much pain.

drwstr123 · May 16, 2006 10:06AM

Fingerprint on reverse, clear once you see it:

MAD4MORGANS · May 16, 2006 10:14AM

Depends on whose they are!!

FBI Link

Longacre · May 16, 2006 11:02AM

I don't care for them on coins.

coinman420 · May 16, 2006 11:11AM

Do finger prints in general if at all, lower the grade of a coin?
Do they generally lower a coins desirability?

yes and yes

Shamika · May 16, 2006 12:53PM

Fingerprints are the one single flaw that I can NEVER NEVER NEVER live with. If I discover a fingerprint on a coin in my collection, it must be sold!

Spots, hits, poor strikes, dull luster... I can live with most anything. But when it comes to fingerprints...

Murphy · May 16, 2006 1:05PM

I don't like fingerprints either. I have one Indian Head Penny that has a very obvious print on the obverse, but the cent is still nice looking to me, so I keep it around.

AZLARRY · May 16, 2006 1:13PM

Finger prints or even fragments of one is a big red flag for me.

DUIGUY · May 16, 2006 1:19PM

Fingerprints on a piece such as this I can live with . look at 9:00 at her buttocks .

mojoman · May 16, 2006 1:55PM

The ONLY fingerprints I think are somewhat interesting are the ones found in mint or proof sets,I have several ,and have sold a few, I wonder WHO messed up at the mint lol and left there mark ,which is on record , somebody COULD be in trouble?

Coinosaurus · May 16, 2006 2:01PM

OK, I admit it.

I "played" with my proof coins when I was a kid.

Somewhere there is a raw 1963 proof set with finger prints all over it (more likely mercifully melted in 1980, actually).

MikeInFL · May 16, 2006 2:22PM

If you asked me that question a year ago, I would have not hesitated in saying that "I don't like fingerprints, or coins that have fingerprints". All that changed when I saw a gorgeous Barber dime that happend to have a fingerprint on the obverse. The luster and color captivated me and I did not hesitate to purchase it. Today, my answer would be "it really depends on the coin".

I think fingerprints both lower the grade of a coin, and also lower the desireability, but they do not on their own rule a coin out for me...Mike

p.s. this is the coin I referred to above:

Myqqy · May 16, 2006 2:42PM

I don't like fingerprints as a general rule, but it really depends on the coin and the look. I have a few toners that have partial prints right by the rim, and they do not really affect the eye appeal at all. Big, greasy prints in the middle of a coin are hard to overcome though...

Elcontador · May 16, 2006 5:49PM

I will not buy a coin with a fingerprint on it (at least one I can see). I remember seeing a six figure Bust $ with a huge, obvious print on it, and I thought the coin was a POS.

PerryHall · May 16, 2006 8:13PM

Why do people hate finger prints and yet pay a big premium for textile toning? They look similar and both occur naturally.

LeeG · May 16, 2006 8:31PM

I'm in agreement with MikeInFl. It all really depends on how bad the print is, location, freshness, etc. You may be missiing out on some great opportunities by disregarding them completely. These two Classic Commems have traces of prints on the Obverse that aren't really too distracting and blend in well:

BAJJERFAN · May 16, 2006 8:54PM

Like most everyone else I don't care for them but they are tolerable if they are not real obvious. I realize that a lot can happen to a coin if it survives 100 or more years most of which I can't control. Again too it depends on the coin. If its a toner maybe, but a common date ms 64 definitely not.

One example:

One more, this is ms 66.

One last one. Most aren't very noticeable on the coin in hand.

Whitby · May 16, 2006 9:41PM

If it was a aw coin in a holder or a raw coin that I collected and later placed in a holder, OK, its not a biggy to me. IF it was a proof, or proof set, OH HELL NO. It just a thing with me that a Proof coin or set should be as close to perfect as my feeble peepers can tolerate.

LanLord · May 16, 2006 9:46PM

Heck, what if a coin was from a collection previously owned by Alexander Hamilton or Thomas Jefferson, had a fingerprint, and was possibly one of them that did it?

I'd be thrilled with that print!

supertooth · May 16, 2006 10:42PM

I am also in agreement with Mike in Fl-----But would like to add a comment. What if you are the person who put the fingerprint [s] on the coin? Years ago, in the late 1950's, most people who collected pushed their coins into the old Whitman folders. If the hole wasn't quite big enough, we just pushed a little harder [oh my]. But, now after 50 years, it is fun to look back at those toners and know that you did it. Part of you wishes that you hadn't done it. The other part sort of sits back and smiles a little at how things used to be back then. Bob [supertooth]

MikeKing · May 19, 2006 10:47PM

Some really beautiful coins posted, thanks. That 1888 Morgan is fantastic among all the other great coins.
This is a 1921 Morgan I just bought from Mike Printz at Larry Whitlows, perhaps some of you had seen it already. Great coin, I think, great fingerprint!