I bought a George Washington commemorative half on ebay to fill up one of the commem slots in my type album. It was shown in a protective coin case with original packaging so I assumed it was in relatively proof condition. Tonite I got the coin and it had fingerprints on both sides! What idiot takes the coin out of the casing to finger it up? Why do fingerprints become permanent on a coin surface, and is there any way to remove them? I am considering sending this puppy back, as much as I hate to hassle with it. I paid $7.50 for a scuzzy looking coin.
Perspiration is acidic and eats into the metal. An acetone dip will do the job within the first day or so, but after that to get rid of the fingerprints you must get rid of the coin. Follow your instincts!
I would dip it like suggested in acetone. But the bad thing is, they can come back after awhile on some coins. But I would send it back, damage is done. Good luck. Phoenix
re: fingerprints Just take a toothbrush and some tooth paste and scrub it for a 1 to 2 minutes. Just kidding. Anyways, acetone is your best bet and if they have been on there for a while use a cotton q tip and dip it in acetone and slowly and gently rotate the q tip over the fingerprints and then dip the coin in acetone. Finally, take it out of acetone and dip it in distilled water and let the coin air dry. This should remove the fingerprints.
Send that fingerprinted sucker back. Don't take chances it will get messed up in rinsing/cleaning and/or the print won't come off.
I hate to go against the consensus, but I would not return the coin. For a Washington commemorative that was only $7.50, it is probably not worth the effort and cost to repackage it and ship it back.
Yeah, I'm probably with you on this one. I figured I will just give it to a young relative or someone who's not so picky. Lesson learned. I am starting to get just as skeptical as everybody else on here about ebay buys!
Ebay is definitely hit or miss......very often miss. The coin is not worthless, and most dealers would pay you about $4.00 for it. If you ever had a garage sale, I am sure you could easily sell the coin for what you have into it. However, it may be very well worth it if you can use it to get a younger collector interested in the hobby.
You also have an option to carry the coin around as a pocket piece. It might get a few people to ask you questions about it. Also, maybe you can put enough wear on it to eventually get it down to EF/VF. It's sometimes interesting to see how a coin like this looks when well-circulated, since virtually every one that's around is uncirculated. Consider it an inexpensive experiment.
