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What Exactly Would Be Consided Coin "Cleaning"

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United States
28 Posts
 Posted 03/23/2014  8:47 pm Show Profile   Bookmark this topic Add jcoins to your friends list Get a Link to this Message Number of Subscribers
Hello, a while back I purchased 2 2014 silver American eagles as uncirculated coins. When I got them I noticed they had tons of fingerprints on them. So I used a micro-fiber cloth and some distilled water gently wipe the fingerprints off. Did I hurt the resell value of the coin by doing this?

Thanks for the help!
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basebal21's Avatar
13014 Posts
 Posted 03/23/2014  9:07 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add basebal21 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
By uncirculated do you mean the bullion version, the w mint mark version or the proof version.

What you did is considered cleaning and wiping usually does leave a mark though you could have gotten lucky and gotten away with it not leaving a visible trace.

But if its the bullion version you didnt really affect the value. Its main value is the silver anyway. You may have lost a very small premium for a really nice looking one but overall didnt really affect it. The w or proof versions though there will be lost value there
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matthewvincent's Avatar
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3486 Posts
 Posted 03/23/2014  9:12 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add matthewvincent to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
As these are bullion pieces and not real 'coins' I do not
think you did too much damage. Resale will be based upon current silver value.
Were you happy with the results?
'Cleaning' is always a risk.
New Member
United States
28 Posts
 Posted 03/23/2014  9:18 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add jcoins to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
I should have mentioned these are the bullion coins. I am happy with the results, there are no fingerprints left. I contacted the seller and they said that they hold the coins only with gloves and that is how the coins come from the mint. Any of you all have had this problem?
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LincolnGuy's Avatar
917 Posts
 Posted 03/23/2014  11:14 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add LincolnGuy to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
I'd say the seller is a liar. Normally I get mine by the roll, now I don't normally look real hard at them, they mostly sit in their rolls from day one, but I haven't ever noticed any fingerprints on mine.
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SsuperDdave's Avatar
United States
23522 Posts
 Posted 03/24/2014  01:12 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add SsuperDdave to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply

Quote:
So I used a micro-fiber cloth and some distilled water gently wipe the fingerprints off. Did I hurt the resell value of the coin by doing this?


If those fingerprints were more than a day or two old, and you succeeded in making them disappear, you probably destroyed any collector value whether you've observed the difference or not. I say that because fingerprints are known to be a permanent addition to the surface of a given coin once the acidity takes hold. Fingerprints can be found perfectly preserved on two hundred year old coins.

So if you've managed to remove them, you've almost certainly stripped or otherwise damaged the surface of the coin. And I will ask, to avoid causing panic among the membership, that you never "wipe" a coin again. Physically touching the surface of a coin with anything is almost a universal "no-no" with very few exceptions, most involving extremely sharp tools which are softer than the coin's composition and specifically dedicated to displacement of existing crud or accumulations. And even then it's pretty easy to screw up a nice coin. The damage is sometimes only visible from certain angles under certain lighting conditions, but it's there and readily noticeable to the experienced collector. I've regularly had my heart drop when I took an otherwise-beautiful coin outside into direct sunlight with a loupe.
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United States
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 Posted 03/24/2014  10:07 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add jcoins to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
I agree that cleaning a coin is usually the worst thing to do but since the coins were the bullion version I would rather have a cleaned coin then one covered with fingerprints.

I appriciate the input.
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United States
20753 Posts
 Posted 03/24/2014  10:40 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add just carl to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Sometimes, not always, Acetone will remove fingerprints. However, as already noted, this could well depend on how long they were there and the amount of acidity in those.
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