Hmm... that's a nice coin WAIT WHY ARE YOU TOUCHING IT WITH YOUR BARE HANDS???

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Germany-186...8531662?pt=US_World_Coins&hash=item4861cdf04e

This drives me crazy. Don't handle your coins without cotton gloves, I wont buy them! And geez, I do not need to see your dirty fingers in the pictures. I don't know why people insist on holding coins with their bare fingers in their ebay listings but it is a huge turnoff. I was really interested in this coin but now that I know its been in his naked fingers YUCK. Stop touching the coins!

Ok, phew, had to get that out of my system. I need to go lie down now. Yes, I am a bit neurotic and disturbed, thank you very much.

 

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Well, at least we didn't see his dirty nails..........

Drives me nuts too 'Pocket.......

 

Don't buy any graded coins either, graders don't use gloves.

If you know how to handle a coin, you don't need gloves.

 

This guy obviously doesn't know how to handle coins........

 

Looks to me like that coin's been polished, so I don't think a little hand contact is going to make much difference.

 

that coin looks so cleaned anyhow.

 

For centuries coin collectors have been handling coins without gloves, as long as you hold the coin by the edges it's not an issue.

 

Same thing with this coin I was interested in: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1827-Guatem...nSmRntzaIKlS8OUQbXK7c%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

 

Yeah, believing it’s ok to handle coins by the edge with your bare hands is a little old school – especially these days with such high scrutiny placed on toning or the slightest bit of microscopic rub. Touching a coin with bare hands asks for problems with uneven blotchy toning or worse, and wear on the edge, neither of which I want on my unc or proof coins. Some of these slabbed coins are going to show problems down the road.

 

Hey guys, check out how thick this Roman coin is...

 

He he.

 

You ancient guys have a sick sense of humor John..........

 

This makes no sense at all. I think cotton is just as bad. For oneit picks up hhairs lint and dirt just as easy as hands plus the fabric can leave hairlines as easy as hands.

 

I really don't see the problem with holding that one. There is no luster to break or put a fingerprint on. Just fine with me.

 

Yeah, I prefer powder free non latex nitrile.

 

I don't like to use gloves at all...I prefer my bare hands. If held correctly (by the rim) there is no risk to the coins. I'm concerned that the loss of dexterity one has when they wear gloves is a bigger risk to the coin. It would be a shame if that glove caused a coin to get dropped.

 

Cotton/paper typically has a hardness of approx. 5 Mohs, whereas silver, gold, copper and zinc.is about 3 Mohs, or 100X softer than cotton gloves. That is why cotton fibers, swabs, microfiber, etc. can scratch coin surfaces.
Paper cuts readily indicate that skin is softer than celluolose


Rather non-scientific to say always use cotton gloves with coins. Any dust on the cotton ( dust is microscopic quartz with 7 Mohs, 10000X harder than coin metal) , so a new pair would be expected.

Purists say nothing should touch the surface of a coin except maybe distilled water , acetone, soluble solutions.

So I take John Anthony satire as good humor.

 

Of course, I agree that modern coins should be properly handled. But in the case of an 1800-year-old coin that's been extensively circulated, thickly patinated, buried for untold generations and cleaned, that coin is long past being bothered by fingerprints.

 

Handling without gloves is not old-school and is chosen by many not only out of personal preference, but also because there are advantages offered over using gloves. If one knows what they're doing and proper care is taken, gloves are an unnecessary hindrance.