I have one with the fingerprint prominent on Ike's neck. Never thought it could have been taken out and resealed. Now I have to go check
I can't believe this. But evidently you guys are proving it, this is no fluke. Especially on these Ikes. How careless! And deceptive, given I'll bet these take time to show up, the salt from the print needing time to work its way in.
I bet, if you have a friend in law enforcement, they could run the print through the FBI database and find out "who done it". It happens all the time on TV. That's a little bit of humor, a very little bit.
Yes. Very common and the most common era is around 1972 to 1977. Before 1980 most of the coins were loaded by hand. It's much less of a problem in regular proof sets but the unc sets and special proof sets like the silver Ikes are affected. Half dollars are the worst.
I remember getting this and opening the set and could not believe there was a "fingerprint" on the penny! It would have been a major headache to return it to the mint, plus I had ordered two sets and the other was fine (a little discoloration no less). So today I recalled that I had a proof set with a fingerprint and went thru my sets till I found it. Looking closely with a magnifying glass it doesn't look like a fingerprint, maybe 46 years later has something to do with it? Plus I see a couple spots (hairline and lapel) and it looks like possible corrosion! It's not on the outside plastic and I'm pretty sure it's on the penny NOT the inside of the plastic. It's a ten dollar proof set today so I'm not at all concerned, just simply wondering how it even came that way from the mint and if anyone else has ever run into this? Best shot I could get with the iphone, sorry.
Finger prints on Proof coins is an even worst sin. I received a set with dime that was like the cent shown above. The packer took their bare thumb and pushed the coin into the hole.
ayup, from the mint, careless handling, i would leave it in the set and someone might pay a bonus for it, ya never know, it is a handling error for sure, not meant to get out of the mint that way...