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Jan
28
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As an investor in coins, you may already know that some coins are hardier and less prone to becoming marked up than others. If you’re buying gold coins, this is even more of an issue. Gold is a very soft metal, so it is easily damaged by even handling it normally, even though it won’t tarnish like silver does. There are several things that you should think about before handling and stacking your US gold coins.
First of all, the type of handling a coin can take will depend on how pure it is. American Gold Eagles are only 22 karats, which means that they have around 90% gold and 10% other metals, which makes them worth a little less but which also makes them stand up to wear and tear better. American Gold Buffalo Heads, on the other hand, are 24-karat gold, which means that the gold is 99% pure. Gold like this can scratch very, very easily, so you have to be careful of how you handle it.
Although gold coins won’t tarnish if they get fingerprints on them like silver coins eventually will, it’s a good practice to keep your coins as clean as possible. If you do handle one of your U.S. gold coins, you can clean it with a quick acetone dip, which will dissolve the fingerprint without harming the metal.
Most dealers and collectors recommend only handling gold coins when you must. Although the value of a gold coin won’t be diminished too greatly because of small scratches and marks, these may make a difference in the coin’s resale price. Handling the coin on the edges will keep the rest of it from being scratched, which will keep the coin in better shape overall.
One of the policies that many coin collectors follow is to keep U.S. gold coins in their original packaging. This is even truer of coins that are valuable not only for their gold content but also for their collectability, such as Gold Eagle Proofs. However, if you want to be able to handle your coins once in a while, you can always set one aside to touch and look at or to show to friends who are interested in seeing what one ounce of nearly pure gold feels like in the palm of a hand. In addition, keeping your coins in their original casing makes them easier to count, which can help if you want to resell them.