I have severe peeling on my thumb, index, and middle finger - only on my right hand and it never spreads beyond the third joint. When it flares up I've tried all types of OTC creams, steroid cream, cortisone, and nothing worked. They made my fingers temporarily softer, but didn't stop the peeling, dryness, or white fissures from getting bigger and developing into a full-on peel. No luck with doctors diagnosing it correctly. My dad has it, too.
I read on another blog about someone having great luck with Theraplex Emollient for Severely Dry Skin and it's the only thing that has ever worked in clearing up a bout of peeling. It's hard to find so I buy it at Amazon or from the Theraplex website. It has helped me so much, if I apply it at the first signs of peeling - and I usually can tell when it's going to start because of a numbness or thick feeling in my fingertips, it either takes it away completely or minimizes the outbreak. You can order free samples from their site to see if it helps. I can't say enough about how much it helps my fingers and a little emollient goes a long way.
Doing some research I found tons of info about nickel allergies in relation to fingertip eczema. Keys, eyelash curlers, doorknobs, pots and pans all contain nickel and many studies from the NIH and Mayo Clinic site fingertip eczema in most cases as a contact allergy - so handling coins, keys, etc., made perfect sense considering I only get it on the fingers that I use for keys, counting change, whatever. If you're allergic to cheap jewelry chances are you have a metal sensitivity/nickel allergy. Women seem more likely than men to get fingertip eczema because of ear piercing and the high-nickel content of some cookware.
If my symptoms match yours, do a search online for nickel allergies, then try avoiding contact with nickel and not eating a lot of canned food. There is a lot of research on how to test household items for nickel and low-nickel diets. So many things contain high amounts of nickel-eliminating as much as you can really helps your fingers.
Hope this helps all you rough-and-raw fingered comrades.