Are Cotton Gloves Still A Good Idea?

you are free to believe whatever you like. You can go look to coinfacts.com by pcgs and look at the gold coin proof comems of the past 7 years it should be pretty clear then

 

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Do you think I am going to do dirty work by looking coins to find a fingerprint on PF70? It's your claim, then you show the picture to support your claim. It's simple.

 

I wear gloves everyday at work and I do a lot of surgeries. I can tell you that I would have more dexterity without them. We wear gloves to keep the surgical field sterile...not for the dexterity. I can't tell you how many instruments I have dropped because they slipped out of my gloved hand. With experience you can get very good with gloves, but you will never have the dexterity with them that you have without.

FWIW, I don't wear gloves when handling coins.

 

as i said earlier you can believe whatever you want i dont need to claim or prove anything to you. People who have been here long enough know what i am talking about. As for dirty work it looks like you want others to do yours and no its not going to happen

 

Ok, I'm probably spoke out of turn by saying that you'd have improved dexterity. I think i meant grip and you don't seem to agree with that, so I'll even conced that point entirely.

What I'd like to ask you is: Would you rather do surgery with cotton gloves or latex? and Why?

Shouldn't we keep our interactions with high-end coins as sterile as possible?

 

So best practices are:
Don't wear gloves.
Clean hands.
Hold coins by edge.
Don't eat a bag of Cheetos while handling your coins.

 

Addition to your recently comment...

Don't wear gloves.
Clean hands.
Hold coins by edge.
Don't eat a bag of Cheetos, pizza, fried chicken, french fries, BBQ ribs or any grease foods while handling your coins.

 

Darn, no fried chicken. But that makes those brown Lincolns really shine.

 

Gulp : - )

 

Both types of gloves lessen dexterity and sensation. The cotton would get all slobbery and YUCK, so of course plastic of some sort is the answer.

Why would I want to be sterile to handle coins? I want to be clean, but not sterile.

 

My question: Why is DROPPING coins a danger? It really shouldn't be: I always handle my coins above a padded workmat that I cover with a microfiber cloth. That way, my coins are only, at the most, 2 inches above the mat when handling them before inspecting, photographing, or placing in air-tites or mylar flips or 2X2s. No chance of them rolling away, falling to the floor, etc.

(Before I handle coins, I wash and dry my hands, and handle them without gloves. I'm NOT saying that I have all the answers. This is just what I am comfortable doing with MY coins.)

 

If you need gloves you are not handling coins properly. Over the years I've tried nitrile, latex, and cotton, and none of them work well enough for me to recommend them. Only reason to use gloves is in the mistaken belief that they allow you to touch a coin's surface, which they do not. Holding coins by the edges is the only acceptable way to handle them, and gloves just make that harder to do.

 

Another thing...it's a REALLY bad idea to wash your hands and then handle coins. To know why, try washing your hands and then pick up a mirror. You'll see immediate condensation, and it will also happen on your coins. Condensation is bad. If your hands are dirty, wipe the fingers you will use to hold the coins with alcohol (not rubbing, but pure isopropyl). This will completely remove any surface oils and will evaporate very quickly.

 

Uh...rubbing alcohol IS isopropyl alcohol. I have seen it available in 50, 70 and 91% strengths. I would recommend using the 91%, I think this is the purest available since it distills over carrying 9% water with it.

 

Rubbing alcohol is isopropyl with water. Might as well just use water. The water wets your skin and absorbs into it, and then the evaporation gets onto the coins. I use 99.953% isopropyl (anhydrous)...Ray

 

When it comes to cleaning proof coins, especially the mirror finish, do you guys recommend only Q-tips brand cotton swabs with the paper sticks, or will the generic brand cotton swabs with less cotton and plastic sticks do? Sorry for making you read this. (joke)

 

I always just use sandpaper on the proofs but it's fun to watch the plastic sticks on q-tips melt with acetone.

 

Actually for proofs, soft-scrub works well. For the love of God, don't believe any of this