Nice Coin Handling...not

I contacted the seller through ebay and said that he shouldn't handle the coins with bare hands because it turns off a lot of collectors to see coins mishandled like that. This was his response.


I was going to respond that he might get more bids and interested buyers without holding the coins in his photos, but I figured what do I care if he doesn't make as much money as he could with better photos. I did my duty by emailing once, so I was done.

I can see both points. This isn't exactly a low grade common V nickel or Indian head worth a buck. If that was mine and I wanted to sell it wouldn't even leave the holder. Once the owner gets it, they can do whatever they please with it. On the other hand, this coin has been held by thousands of people when it was used as money and it didn't hurt it but it is not used as legal tender anymore and shouldn't be treated as such. If you think that a coin is being mishandled, you can just not bid on it.

While I respect different collector's opinions on proper coin handling etiquette, I feel the need to speak up here: There are indeed right ways and wrong ways to handle coins. We are taught as coin collecting fundamentals certain rules such as "never clean a coin" and "never touch a coin". Well the coin collecting world is not so black and white. If you are a die hard coin purist and you prefer to abide by these rules then so be it and I will respect your opinion. However, I would expect coin collectors to mature and grow as they grow wiser over their collecting life. This means having an understanding that "there is more than 1 way to skin a cat".

Basically, don't confuse your own personal idiosyncrasies with correct and proper coin handling etiquette. What business is it of yours to email an ebay seller and tell him that he is handling his coins incorrectly? I think the seller's reply was witty and very polite considering he could very easilly have told you to mind your own business.

Actually, with old copper like that and especially true for ancient coins, it's not that big of a deal to handle them like that. I wouldn't try smearing my finger prints deliberately all over the surfaces but the surfaces that already have that type of patina/toning aren't going to be harmed when handled with the flat of the hand. Ancient coin collectors HATE slabs, generally speaking, and strive to be able to hold their ancient coins in their hands.

It just seems to me like an old antique silver pot that a dealer is going to sell, and he uses it to cook his family dinner.

I've been blasted more than once via email for this transgression tryin to get a good photo.my fingers are cupped so as the coin is not laying flat,still I see no big deal on coins that have problems or are lower grade as every handler was not wearing gloves as the coin wore its way from ms60 - vg8,etc.it seems odd to me to see a damaged/corroded green copper being held with coin gloves unless they are protecting their hands from the coin..recently gave my oldest grandson a nice ag+ 1800 large cent and I just couldnt tell him-its yours but you cant touch it unless you're wearing gloves

Dr. William Sheldon. He wrote a book on Large Cents using his own numbering system called Sheldon Varieties consisting of around 300 different varieties. The book is quite famous and is called "Penny Whimsy." You will often see Large Cents in holders with S-3 or S-2c or similar designations, that is the Sheldon variety number.

The "Sheldon scale" is the grading scale we use in numismatics today Grades 1-70 where Poor is 1 and a perfect coin (theoretically impossible) would be MS70.
(Though MS70 is given out today by TPG's in modern coins, I am not in agreement with them on that practice.