Just read something at COINage magazine about not talking while inspecting coins with a loupe, as the moisture in the hot air coming out of your mouth creates an environment that is 80% relative humidity. Well now, don't we want our coins in a "low humidity" environment? http://coinagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Conservation-vs.-Restorationreduced_size.pdf I've learned not to keep my coins in, or anywhere near: Wood PVC rubber bands things that rub against them paper containing sulphur And now I can't breathe when I look at them with a loupe. Sheesh.
I was going to say... breathing does just as much as talking. I have noticed coin holders fogging up a bit when looking at the closely through a loop, so I guess there is some truth to this.
I know a person that, for a living, sells "clean rooms". I'm sure he would appreciate the business. Imagine, your own clean room, just for your coins. No environmental or breathing damage can occur or can it?
Actually every time I am holding my coins I seem to leave a moisture vapor on the plastic and it freaks me out. I think maybe I need to relax. To wear my white gloves even to hold an NGC slab feels insane, yet it also feels so right ... want to hear something crazy? Went to the art store down the street yesterday to pick up a loupe and the young kids who worked there did not even know what a loupe is! I guess they only know +/- on a computer screen. I was feeling dated, so I went home and fondled my Morgans to feel totally modern and cutting edge again ...
Well probably not a good idea to go wheezing all over a coin when you are inspecting it closely. My biggest concern would be someone salivating all over my coin. Mouth-breathers get back!
Yes, it's a good idea to hold your breath, and you should also learn to keep your mouth shut so your dip doesn't drip. Chris
I always hold the coin above and to the side of my nose so it's not in the line of fire when exhaling. Never had a problem with fogginess on coins or flips when inspecting them up close.
Well, that's what my drool cup is for. What the half-tin of Copenhagen between my cheek and gum has to do with it is irrelevant.
Man, I am glad I spend all of my coin time nowadays with ancients. None of this "oh you have to treat them like delicate little bunnies" mentality there. Heck, they survived 2000 years, my breathing on them will not hurt anything.
Jewels are similar, always taught to hold to side and brace support fingers on side of nose and upper cheek. Use the other hand to hold object. Focus by moving the object and not the loupe.
That looks like a nice gem. I can see the light reflecting through the back side and you are correct about how to look at them.
SO: Are you saying that ancient collectors don't have to worry about further corroding THEIR coins? Or worry about what keeping them in cigar boxes will do to them? Or rubber bands? Or PVC? You people do something to at least to keep 'em from rattling around banging into each other, don't you? I've seen them in saflips and 2X2s!
The biggest concern for us is bronze disease. It's important to keep coins stored in a relatively dry environment, but if one is careful about buying coins with completely intact patinas, bronze disease is rarely a problem, even in the most humid conditions. Ancient silver is almost always dipped - when it comes out of excavations it is typically coal-black and unattractive, so dipping is de rigeur. It will tone like any silver, sometimes with lovely colors, sometimes not so much. The same precautions need to be taken as with modern silver - keeping the coins dry and away from sulphuric influences (unless you want them to tone of course). Gold is gold, and rarely tones unless it has a significant amount of copper or silver in the alloy. But as far as dents, scratches, and fingerprints go, I handle my coins frequently and don't need to hold my breath, either literally or figuratively. Of course I don't play frisbee with them either.
