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From the results reported here for Co nanoparticles coated with 3-(N,N-dimethyldodecylammonium)- propanesulfonate (SB12), Cu, or Au, and from experimental and theoretical results published by several other groups there is strong evidence that the various coatings (organic as well as inorganic) not just influence but even determine the properties of small metallic nanoparticles. In an empirical manner, the core-coating interaction is already used to influence the size and the shape of nanoparticles. Based on previously published results and some experiments, in this paper the influence is described that various coatings have on the geometric, electronic, and magnetic properties of cobalt nanoparticles with diameters smaller than 10 nm. The results indicate that there is an interdependence of various properties (e.g., size and electronic properties of a particle with the same coating) so that is seems to be difficult to vary one property in a systematic way without changing others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]