.........i don't think i would wipe it. high probability of scratching the coin. you may try swishing it around in a glass container of acetone. this MIGHT help. otherwise leave it alone.
Vince, if the fingerprint is visible, it is generally too late to remove it, and it would not just wipe off anyway, and as Grizz says damage would occur. Acetone would be my first step also as it would remove fresh fingerprints, but not older ones. Jim
The coin community needs to embrace fingerprints on coins... Imagine how cool it would be to own a Morgan dollar with Billy the Kid's prints on it... a Chain cent that Ben Franklin held in his hands... In some cases it would be very hard to prove, but think of the possibilites!
Now here is something we never thought about. A hugh data base of fingerprints so we could trace who put it there. Imagine a Lincoln Cent with Lincoln's finger print on it? Or a Buffalo Nickel with the Indian's finger print on it that posed for that coins obverse. And how much would a Kennedy Half be worth with his finger print on it? :smile First of all what is the value of the coin? How recent is it date wise? If relatively new, no much value, it may have been a recent fingerprint. If so it may come off easily. If it's been there for a while, might be to late. Since everone's body is different in chemical makeup, the amount of acid in thier sweat is different. This means that some fingerprints are so acidic that even a few days will make it permanent. In some instances it's basically only an oil that leaves that print and it would come off with Acetone. An example of this is at a coin show I purchased a 1995 Lincoln Double Die Cent in possilby MS-65 for practically nothing. Had a massive fingerprint on the obverse. At home I tried Acetone, then Laquer thinner. Nothing. So with little to loose I dumped it in one of those jars of jewlery cleaner from Walmart. Left it there for several hours. Removed it and the fingerprint was completely gone. May or may not work with other fingerprints and other coins. LIke I said it all depends on if that coin is worth experimenting with.
A kennedy half with his fingerprint on it would be something indeed, like a roosevelt dime with his print on it, or a washington quarter with his print, now thats where the money is.
Shirley, you jest! Do you propose digging these individuals up to press their cold, dead fingers on the appropriate coins?
lets see, Lincoln't fingerprint 144 years after he died. Or in 1909 only 44 years after he died. euwwww
It would be really hard to get that Lincoln print too considering he's buried in ten tons of concrete.
I was told to NEVER try and clean a coin, and if you did a trained eye could tell. So is Acetone and Laquer thinner an exception to this rule.
Back to the subject....99% of the time finger prints are impossible to remove. If you do manage, you WILL damage the coin's surface. Personally, I'd rather have a finger print than a damaged surface. On a side note....it's pretty incredible how many Lincoln's I find searching that are completely red and have a big, black finger print on them. Like the only person that handled that coin before me was a mechanic at the end of his work day. LOL
