How is it recommended to hold ancient coins

With clean hands? Latex gloves? Vinyl gloves?

 

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Bare hands are fine. They survived several thousand years in soil, not much can harm them. Storage is more important for longevity, particularly for bronze coins. Bronze coins should be stored somewhere dry to prevent the chemical reaction with water that causes "bronze disease" (a reaction that literally turns the bronze into powder over time).

 

Most people feel clean hands are fine with ancients.

 

My hands are clean when I hold them...nothing like scrubbed before surgery or anything extreme. Just not dirty.

 

Clean bare hands. I try to hold them by the rim. Most important is to not drop them on a hard surface. They can be brittle and break.

 

I believe you are a hundred times more likely to damage an ancient coin dropping it from gloved fingers than you are gripping securely with clean fingers.

 

I hold them in their ngc holders...

 

Haha... honest or a just looking to get em going?

 

The first ancient I bought was raw.... and a fake. I stick with graded now. I feel like I've gotten good deals on them, and at least they are genuine (according to someone else's opinion, not fact, I know). Honestly, I am down to about 3 left. I've sold most for a small profit. I need to start shopping for some more

 

I drop them a lot with out gloves

 

This is why gloves are usually prohibited when handling old books and manuscripts. Gloves are kept on hand for press photos only.

 

..very tightly and close to the heart..

 

If Harlan J Berk will bare hand $30,000 in gold ancients at one time; I'll touch any of my lowly pieces without washing mine.
Jump to 2:25

 

I prefer clean dry hands when examining them.

 

Col. Sanders greasy mits will not send you to the gallows.......

 

LOL
That sounds like something you'd hear in one of those teen chick flicks.

The OP
Raw and bare handed, my rough ol workin hands.

 

If you just ate salty potato ships, wash your hands, and don't put lotion on them. As others have said, clean hands are good enough.

 

As others have already said bare hands are fine, just always hold coins by the edges.

 

So, I should wash my hands after the BBQ ribs? I bet Julius Caesar himself handled his coins after some nice sticky ribs and corn on the cob.