So, I'm new to this but I did pick up early on that I should never try to clean or polish coins. That said, do people ever try to remove fingerprints or accumulated gunk? Should I even be thinking about this? Here's an example, the fingerprint is really visible over the date and even the cheek, and there's like a film on the right side.
Is the fingerprint relatively recent? If so, a soak in 100% acetone might remove it, do not use nailpolish remover.
If its recent as stated above it could be removed.If its been on there for around 100 years it's with the coin for eternity.
Thank you for the help. It's been on there for at least 50 years, so I guess it's living with the coin now.
There's cleaning coins, and then there's cleaning coins. If you wish to increase the eye appeal of your coins without doing any harm, the thing to remember is mainly NO RUBBING!!! Rinsing or soaking in solvents will do no harm as long as you don't try to wipe them and you restrict yourself to water, pure acetone, pure xylene. Give it a try and let us see the results.
Old fingerprint? All is lost. As reported above, the bloody thing is 'etched' into the surface of the coin. The 'gunk' removal is much more promising........pure acetone will save the day.
That coin was cleaned, to begin with. It was harshly scrubbed, or polished. There is no changing the look of that coin.
