Fingerprints On A Coin

What can you expect in terms of grading from a pcgs or ngc if you have a coin with a fingerprint on them? ? I bought a washington smoothie edge error from someone on ebay and the coin is in excellent shape except for a visible fingerprint on the obverse which probably covers about 1/4 of the obverse. The coin is definitely UNC, but the bozo handled it with his fingers and therefore left a print on the coin. Without the fingerprint I would expect the coin to grade a 66, but with the print I have no idea since I have only sent about 20 coins to grading services and never any with fingerprints. Please post a reply only if you really know what I could expect in terms of a downgrade if there even would be a downgrade. Thanks

 

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Also, is there anyway to remove fingerprints

from a coin without damaging the coin itself?

 

Since you state that the fingerprint covers 1/4+ of the coin I would say that the coin would grade MS64 or lower.

There is really no proven way to remove a print....some say that Acetone will remove a print...but myself and others hold to belief that the print while it may go away for a time will come back at a later date and might be much worse.

Speedy

 

That's why you sell it fast!

 

the print is literally a touch of death to great coins

 

I don't think that is a good honest thing to do---and it really isn't a good think to do and then pass it off to a dealer without telling him about the history.

Speedy

 

of course it's best to handle coins with cotton gloves. the fact of the matter is the tpg's don't bother using gloves half the time, otherwise how would you explain the slabs for sale with fresh prints on them?

 

The way I understand it, fingerprints aren't wear, but they are distracting, like bag marks, and as such they can keep a BU coin out of gem, or a gem coin from going up the ladder.

 

Show me one like that. I love the positive upbeat messages here!

Ruben

 

Yeah, I forgot about that. They're contaminants (unlike a bag mark).

 

I would show you a photo of a nice BU Ike Dollar that was still sealed in the mint packing with a nice large fingerprint on the face....but I sold it It happens...

Speedy

 

I bet there is plenty of DNA on coins :goofer:

 

I have an NGC slabbed 1909 VDB Lincoln in MS-65 Red with a visible fingerprint on the reverse.

HTH

 

Some coins probably have tiny amounts of blood in the details, so yes...

400th post !

 

At least the perpetrator can easily be identified...

 

I guess fingerprints don't bother circulated coins.

 

100% cotton shirttails.

 

That's a bad idea, you will scratch the surface of the coin and ruin the grade. By the way...how many year+ old threads are you going to bump? I have seen several today.