He’s done it again.
Several weeks ago, we talked about Glenn Beck using gold coins on his TV show and handling them without protection – either protective holders or gloves.
Congressman Anthony Weiner recently attacked Goldline and Glenn Beck saying that they use scare tactics to get people to buy gold.
That, of course, gave Glenn Beck another opportunity to bring out his gold coins. If he wants to handle his personal coins with his fingers and put damaging body oils and fingerprints on the coins, that’s his prerogative. But, unfortunately, his doing so will give those less educated about coins and numismatics the wrong idea.
You should NOT touch rare and/or valuable coins with your bare hands. The coins should be in protective holders. If they are not, then use white cotton gloves to hold the coins. And, those cotton gloves should be clean of any chemicals.
Glenn Beck can be scary in what he says and how he says it; however, many times his scary comments have correctly predicted future events.
Is he using scare tactics to get people to buy gold? Well, if he is, then a lot of other people in the investment industry, the gold industry and in the halls of economic education are also scary as they advocate buying gold when times – such as now – get financially rocky.
But, the Beck versus Weiner brouhaha is not the focus, the coins are.
Perhaps the coins Beck handles on his show are lower grade and their value is in the gold content not the coins themselves.
Still, many people watch his show and will deduce that it’s okay to handle any raw coins with bare fingers.
Not good, not good at all. At the very least, it makes all true numismatists cringe at the disrespect for the coins. At the worst, the coins decrease in value, and depending on their rarity and the damage caused by the bare fingers, the decrease in value could be significant.