Fingerprints after grading

Wearing gloves reduces dexterity, and the glove material itself comes in contact with more than just the edges of the coin (as it pushes around the edge when holding the coin), so it's not a great idea to wear gloves when handling coins. That said, gloves do protect from the oils and moisture (or mustard!) that some folks have on their hands. Oils and moisture are the enemy, and are what make a fingerprint. I will only handle coins after washing my hands, and giving plenty of time to dry. Sometimes I will use alcohol instead of soap and water if I need to handle coins immediately.

One time I went into a coin shop looking for BU rolls of Lincoln Cents. The owner put a box of rolls in front of me, and then asked to shake my hand. He "passed" me for handling his coins, and said that a lot of folks have "chronically-wet" hands. I really hope none of these folks are in the coin grading business, or if they are, that they are wearing gloves...it's better to have gloves contact a coin than wet hands!

My final $0.02...touching the edges of a coin will indeed cause problems if your hands are not clean and dry. Skin oils can soak onto the coin surface and cause problems. Clean, dry hands won't cause these problems.

 

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I used to use thin cotton gloves for searching bags of UNC Lincolns. Past that I don't see the need for gloves.

 

OK. Everybody has there own opinions. I mainly state for proof coins being sent for grading. Everything is just my humble opinion. Everybody does what they want. Have a good weekend folks.

 

Proofs require different etiquette than business strikes.

 

A fingerprint on a proof coin would be pretty obvious immediately, but it could also be removed very easily. The ones shown early in the thread do not look like recent prints IMHO.

 

jwitten hit it on the head...scan the coin before you send it in at a high reso;ution and in these message s say what you did with pictures attached...That way if anything goes wrong, the grading company is totally to blame

 

People touch coins... If they are not Proofs.. its no ones fault after that.

 

This was the first thing that came mind. If there is this much concern and suspicion with fingerprints, then all employees of TPG companies should have their fingerprints on file. That fingerprint is very pronounced and could be easily traced to an employee. If there is no match, then it would be safe to assume that the TPG company is not at fault.

The thing is that I do not know how often this occurs. With the plethora of coins being graded, the logistics may present a challenge. Regardless, if a system were in place, a fingerprint like the one would solve the case.

Please don't reply "edited" This only an idea.

 

I couldn't agree more. Let all the graders have there prints on file, And if issues present themselves, The fingerprints will "speak" for themselves.

 

Well if that became a thing then people would need to be prepared for their coins to be gone for many months, pay for the entire process, get back details coins every time or pay for conservation afterwards ect.

 

Well Baseball, If your prized possession were in the thousands of dollars range, You send it in to have graded, And you know your coin(s) were in pristine condition when sent in, Then all of a sudden you get it back and you notice something on the coin(s) that weren't there when you sent it in, How would you feel ? I would go through the roof being a New Yorker.

 

I would go through my barn being a Texan. I vote no gloves.

 

More importantly... Hearts go out to you folks in Texas.. Stay safe my friend...

 

I saw a 1964-D dime on E-Bay with a thumb print on the reverse. So I thought of this thread. It wasn't graded, but, the print was rainbow toned. The field behind the print was blast white. There was some other toning going on near the fingerprint. I just hadn't seen only a print toned. Maybe toned fingerprints will bring a premium. I didn't get a link.