Storing coins in liquid nitrogen.

I used to store mine in pay phones, but then AT&T stole all of them

 

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Have you looked up MSDS of liquid nitrogen? Consider how you would handle them. Very impratical.

If you said helium, maybe. We'll send the coins off to space where no man can hear them scream or tone. Of course, they will be tone deaf too.

 

Very Astute!! Your answer is correct!! In a sterile environment having the absence of oxygen the coins will generally not change their original state under "normal" conditions. The coins needn't be in a vacuum, but merely immersed contained in a non-destructive material that will not transmit/absorb oxygen. An evacuated hermetically sealed container of many materials would suffice. Even a solution of "liquids" would suffice.

 

Impractical for the common man, certainly. But you don't think that the people who spend a million or more dollars on a rare coin or especially the people who spend it on coins that are a conditional/blast white rarity might want to spend a little more than the cost of a 2x2 to protect their coin?

 

Can easily be done at an auction a couple years ago near me there was a ca 1800 blown glass pitcher with a 1794 liberty cap encapsulated in the stem was incorrectly cataloged as a 93 which had people talking about breaking it to get the coin which was a solid xf-au pitcher sold for I think 70k

 

I'm my opinion let them tone a 200 year old coin with fine toning only adds to the appeal like fine antique furniture the color only gets better with age classic example that 1794 flowing hair dollar that sold for 10 mil was stored in a drawer for 200 years all I can say that is one incredibly beautiful coin and would be my 3 rd pick if I could own any coins in the world (behind the 1873cc no arrows and the 1822 $5 )

 

Problem is most liquid also carry contaminants let alone that a lot will react with the coins themselves. That is the one thing a vacuum does absolutely NOT have or do. For all the things out there called "hermetically sealed", how difficult can it really be to make something for a coin. And there are ways to coat things with glass.

And, wiggam007, I do not think I am talking anything that impractical. Maybe not available for a $50 dollar coin, but I would guess it is there today for a $1000 dollar coin

 

I will agree with that. I have heard of people using those vacuum sealers for food on coins to get that sort of protection. Certainly, something specifically designed for coins could find a place.

I was more pointing this out to the other posters who seem to believe that there are not some people or organizations who might be interested in higher tech alternatives for the storage of coins. And that the suggestion that people might want such storage means that they should encase their coins in glass.

 

I have the solution. Fine single malt in a glass with nitrogen carbonation

 

hehe we will simplify this. Important document storage is done in a nitrogen environment (ie an airtight vault filled with nitrogen. This is done because it is an inert gas and does not react with other materials. So yes nitrogen storage would not damage any of the coins in any way, but storage costs are not inexpensive. My family stores the family bible in this manner at a cost of about $600 a year for a 2x2x1 box.

 

Wow. What would it cost to have that thing digitized?

 

Nitrogen is not an inert gas, it is mostly inert. It is not a Noble gas like Argon, Helium, and other Column ( Group) VIII gases that have a filled valence shell. Maybe be picky, but check what happens with nitrogen gas and lithium even at room temperature.

 

Nitrogen will work, and if you really want a true inert gas for your strage environment use Argon. Completely inert and readily available at any welding supply house.

I used to consider small airtight jars with acetone.

 

There are many long term food storage systems that use nitrogen. I have fantasies of leaving some of my mint roll coins buried in a wall for someone to find a hundred years from now. Every house should have a hidden treasure. I was doing some home repairs and found a news paper from 1923. If only it was coins.

 

Apparently there ARE stupid questions.
Why would anyone care what a coin might look like in 1,000 years?

 

For your offspring

 

1000 years is approximately 50 generations. That's going to be one huge fight over a few blast white coins.

 

We'll all keep that in mind when we're deciding how to store our lithium coins.

Meanwhile, if you store copper, silver, gold, or even sodium or potassium under nitrogen at room temperature, you can expect to wait at least a few million years for any noticeable reaction.

 

I'll be surprised if we haven't already destroyed the planet in 1000 years.

 

Like I said, it might be picky, just wanted accuracy These long term predictions of the coins safety in some type of 'inert' gas in some type of container seems to ignore the outer walls of the container. Will it resist corrosion and puncture for a few million years or even a thousand . Or do we inclose that in inert gas and a second thicker outer container?