hello guys my question is i have been giving my coins a very light rub between my fingers while waearing my all cotton gloves for a while with no problems and I was told the other day that even a light rub of any kind whatsoever can alter a coin and thus could make it a diffrence when grading . has anyone ever heard of this and pls share it with me
In general, the answer is a big, enormous YES IT CAN. Especially with high-grade coins. The criteria for MS-70 are, literally, microscopic. Of course, it won't be noticeable at all on a Fine or VF piece. And for lower grade specimens, I actually enjoy handling them. (gasp!)
it really depends. if you are rubbing off a corroded part of the coin i guess its ok, but if you are rubbing it to clean it that makes it cleaned.
well mosty i have done it on the presidential coinsthat i had stored in the vinyl 2x2 flip because after being in the flips for a while they had this sort of film on them that was very light but came off with a simple few light rubs ,so you are saying that even the lightest of rubs will harm a coins grading potential
The only safe place to handle a coin, cotton gloves or not, is the edge of the coin. Any type of abrasion on a coins surface will leave some kind of alteration, although maybe not as noticable on cirulated coins with the naked eye, but certainly on MS coins.
DUI4U, Do you have a good loupe or other source of magnification? If so I'd take a look before and after rubbing to see the difference. Now I'm going to make it a point to do this then magnify at 60X. When I have time of course.
Yes it can. But, there is a difference between rub and wear. In that case, I think the correct term would be wear, so yes, it could really hurt. Doesn't matter if it's a MS-68 coin, if there is any wear on the coin, it makes it an AU coin then. Could be wrong though, but that's the way I see it. Phoenix
DON'T - I've done it and left scratches with so called "non-abrasive" lens cleaning cloth. I'd leave well enough alone. (It may be possible that the cloth itself leaves less damage than the dust which is almost always embedded in the fibers.)
That's a great point, and precisely why I use the following product to place my raw coins on (for instance in a photograph) and to remove dust: http://www.photosol.com/padproduct.htm They are basically disposable microfiber cloths. I ran into these quite some time ago through photography and have been using them successfully for a few years now. The key to this product is they are disposable, and as long as you store them in a dust free environment (for instance a thick ziplock bag) and in their original package, you get a dust-free surface to place a coin on or to wipe a coin with (extremely lightly, for instance to "shoo" dust off the coin - I AM NOT CONDONING WIPING ANY COINS!!!!). I would highly recommend them too (they work great for glasses, lenses, and other "delicate" things). Hope this helps someone...Mike p.s. to the OP, YES, a light rub can hurt. Even the lightest of hairlines on a high-grade coin can be very costly. Obviously, if the coin is relatively cheap and circulated, the "risk" is much lower. Things such as rubbing a coin between cotton fingers will tend to show in a proof before it would in a mint state coin, and would tend to show in a mint state coin before it would show in a circulated coin. I wouldn't do it.
ok i guess i still have alot to learn ,but may i ask one more follow up just to see how much damage i've done is it the kind of thing that will change an ms - 64 or 65 and make it a lower grade or are we talking more like ms 67 and up and all proof coins ,or do they grade all coins the same no matter what the grade ms -62 or ms -68 and thank you guys so much for the help
Wear is wear no matter the grade, 62 or 68. Hairlines caused by rubbing with a cloth will most certainly ruin a proof coin and cause harm to any mintstate coin, possibly putting it into AU catagory. Frank, excellent idea on the photo disposable wipes !!!! THANKS
It sounds like your coins might be getting PVC on them. You said it was like a light film. I would suggest going online to someplace like JP's, or brent-krueger and get some PVC free flips. Speedy
Since you are collecting presidential dollars and may have already damaged them, you might want to consider starting over, otherwise you may find out years from now that what you thought was a high-grade MS collection is basically worthless. It's hard to do, but probably worth it.
I dont know guys i always give my coin a VERY LITE wipe before sending in for grading and have done so for years and have never had any ms come back au , are we talking any contact whatsoever would cause this because I would really love to know and if anyone has a microscope I think it would be great if they posted pictures of the befors and after which i believe someone said they might do in this thread earlier .. thanks guys
You are making a huge mistake COINSTER - never, ever touch the surface of a coin with anything ! That light wipe as you call it will lower the grade of the coin every single time. And sometimes, it may even be cause for a coin to be body bagged.
I generally leave mint issued coins in their capsules, with the notion that if there is a speck of dust on the surfaces the grader will identify it as such and it won't affect the grade. Wiping the coins seems like it would introduce a new step in the minting process, which may remove the speck, but leave more dirt, finger oils (which can and do diffuse through the fibers), and corrosive chemicals such as sodium and chlorine, which we use daily in abundance. I have worked in the optics and semiconductor industries where spin cleaning is usually performed without human touch. The standard rule in these industries is that cleaning immediately after fabrication removes residue. Subsequent cleaning leaves residue. However I could also be wrong.
