|
Selecting a Holder
 | By Mike Thorne, Coins Magazine
September 17, 2008 |
Last month I started on the topic of coin storage and detailed the danger of housing in PVC-containing holders. This is particularly a problem if you live in a hot, humid climate.
In reading about coin preservation, one of the most interesting (and scary) passages I've encountered is in the latest edition of Scott Travers' The Coin Collector's Survival Manual. According to Travers:
"Humidity can cause negative surface reactions even on coins which have developed a natural oxide coating. Excessive moisture causes corrosion. Copper coins are particularly vulnerable to high levels of moisture in the air, for they can suddenly break out with big black spots for apparently no reason. If you live in Florida, sell your cent collection - If you do have coins in a humid environment, store silica gel with them. This will absorb the moisture. Recharge the silica gel by heating it in an oven."
If you buy coins at a coin show or through the mail, you're likely to find the coins stored in a variety of holders. Obviously, some of these holders are better than others for long-term storage.
For example, you may acquire coins that are in 2-by-2 paper envelopes, often of different colors, such as tan, white, or green. This violates one of Travers' "Preservation Precautions," which states, "Keep coins away from paper," as the sulfur in the paper will, over time, adversely affect the coin inside the envelope. The negative effect will be worse on uncirculated or proof coins than it will be on circulated pieces. Bottom line: Don't house coins in paper envelopes and then forget about them, as their appearance will not improve over the years.
Another type of holder that used to be ubiquitous but now is merely common is the 2-by-2 (2 inches-by-2 inches, with other sizes as well) cardboard holder lined with Mylar, which is a thin plastic product that doesn't contain PVC. These holders are useful for storing inexpensive coins, as they are low priced and easy to use.
One caution, however, is that you should use a pair of pliers to flatten the staples that are often used to close the holders. Otherwise, it's possible that the staples from one holder will damage the coin in the holder placed next to it.
As an alternative to flattening the staples with pliers, you can actually buy a stapler that automatically flattens the staple at the same time that it inserts it. These are called flat-clinch staplers and are sold online.
As a corollary to flattening the staples, you should take care to remove the staples from a holder before attempting to extract a coin from it. I can't tell you how many otherwise great coins I've seen that have a thin, obviously new scratch on them from being taken out of a holder that still had staples in it. Trust me, this scratch will significantly lower the coin's value.
As an alternative to the 2-by-2 PVC-containing holder, which should never be used for long-term storage, there is a somewhat stiffer 2-by-2 made from acetate. One version of this is the Saflip, which is available from E & T Kointainer Co.
In addition to the Saflip, E & T Kointainer also makes and sells the Kointain. As J.P. Martin, writing the chapter on how to store coins for Bill Fivaz's Helpful Hints for Enjoying Coin Collecting, puts it:
"One very successful application of a type of acetate is in [Kointains], where cast triacetate is extruded by dies into shells that fit over either side of the coin and grip it by the edge. Since the shells bow outward, the surface of the coin cannot be damaged by the holder, and if properly assembled, the overlapping edges of the shells form a near-airtight seal that keeps moisture and air pollution out."
One downside of the Kointain is that there's nowhere to write on it. Solutions to this problem include placing the Kointain inside a paper envelope or inside a mylar 2-by-2 with a window that's larger than the size of the Kointain you're using.
In the early 1970s, I decided to move all of my coins from the holders they were in, which were generally made of cardboard with holes and plastic slides, to Lucite plastic holders. These were three-piece holders consisting of a colored middle piece with holes sandwiched between two clear sheets, the whole thing held together by plastic screws in the corners and other locations. The coins went into the holes. The ones I bought were made by Capital Plastics.
Unfortunately, after I had swapped coins for holders for my better sets (e.g., Mercury dimes, Roosevelt dimes, Washington quarters), I began to discover flaws in their use.
For one thing, they were a pain to fool with if you wanted to upgrade your collection. They were fine if you had a set of coins that was complete and in unimprovable condition, because the plastic was inert and the fit was tight enough to keep out moisture.
However, if you wanted to exchange a single coin in the set for a better specimen, you would have to undo almost all of the plastic screws, move the lower sheet of plastic enough to push the coin out from the bottom, and put in the new coin. When you reassembled the album, you had to be careful not to slide either the top or the bottom piece of plastic over the surface of any of the coins, which might damage them.
In addition to being hard to assemble and disassemble, they took up an inordinate amount of room in a lock box. They were also hard to keep clean, as fingerprints were an inevitable consequence of touching them, unless you wore gloves.
The biggest drawback, however, was the expense of acquiring them. Would you care to guess which appreciated more, the coins I traded for them or the Capital holders themselves?
Next month, I'll finish discussing storage methods for your coins.
Add to: del.icio.us digg
With this article: Email to friend Print
| On September 19, 2008 Lutherfest said  |
Something to add? Notice an error? Comment on this article. | |