Fingerprints on silver?
MillerJW
Posts: 649 ✭✭
Alright to make a long story short, i found a silver 50C Proof piece that was in excellent condition except for what looks like a finger print discoloration in the silver. How does this effect the grade of the coin?
MSgt USAF Jan-06 - Present
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Some finger prints are very ugly, but some are slightly appealing when they blend in with toning.
<< <i>Then again, the finger print may be a good thing if it was from some famous person or something
Maybe i should print all my coins now just in case
As for MS coins, it may not have an effect on the grade, but it could be a real eye sore, depending on the severity and location of the print. Most collectors will forgive a small, light or partial print that isn't too distracting. There are countless MS-60 through MS-63 coins with prints, but those are grades where obvious imperfections are par for the course. Some collectors have their own personal "fingerprint grading criteria" and will not buy one graded higher than MS64. The top grading services seem to accept prints on coins graded much higher than 64.
Then you get the anal retentive, fanatical perfectionists who wouldn't dare infect their collection with a hint of a fingerprint visible in ANY MS grade. Their first reaction is to run for the insect repellent or quarantine the diseased object. Fortunately, these are an extremely small minority of collectors. Of course, they have a right to choose which kind of imperfection bothers them most (rim nicks, scratches, spotty toning, prints, etc.) and so do you.
From what I've observed, the best answer on this subject is "IT DEPENDS." But I would be interested in knowing if Proofs are treated the same way as MS coins with regard to fingerprints.