Home >> Collecting >> Coin Collecting

How to Handle Old Coins

If you want your old coins to appreciate in value over time, then it is vital to maintain them in the best possible condition. Of particular importance is careful handling, to avoid the potentially damaging effects of small knocks and scrapes, the dust in the atmosphere and the oils secreted by your own fingertips. Fortunately, this is easy enough to do as long as you take a few simple precautions.

Things You'll Need

Cotton gloves
Blotter
Soft brush

Instructions

- 1
  Put on a pair of cotton gloves--available for a few dollars from most pharmacies--before touching your old coins. These will shield them from the corrosive effects of greasy fingermarks, while being sufficiently thin that you can handle the coins with ease. Replace the current pair as soon as the fingertips show any signs of grubbiness.
- 2
  Lay the coins on a soft clean blotter or pad rather than putting them directly onto the hard surface of your desk as a way of avoiding any minor bumps.
- 3
  Dust the coins lightly with a soft brush before returning them to their containers, and also check those containers for any trapped particles. Ordinary house dust can have an extremely reactive--that is, corrosive--effect on old coins, and the last thing you want is for your prized collection to slowly degrade while in storage.

Coin Collecting