And do you think the conditions in your home and where you live are exactly the same as they are for anybody else ? You see, that's what people forget or don't think of. Just because something happened to work out well for you doesn't mean it will for somebody else. If you have 5 people, all in different areas, and they all get examples of the same freshly minted coins and all store them in the same way. In the years to come all 5 of those collections will look different than all the others. Even if all 5 live in the same town, they will still look different. This is because coin toning, or the lack thereof, is 100% dependent on conditions. Everything in your home, your carpet, furniture, heating system, cooling system, kitchen appliances, the paint on your walls, even the food you eat, all of it affects coin toning. And since all of those things will be different in each home the toning or lack thereof will be different. But let me ask you a different question, how long have you been using zip lock bags for coin storage ? And can you please describe the rest of your storage method in detail. Because that makes a difference too.
Some coins mmust be removed from their OGP. I have a superb Gem 1949 Polish set that welded itself to the plastic and is utterly ruined. These aluiminum coins are usually poorly made but these are fantastic except for their reverses. The coins listed for 75c until a couple years ago so I never paid them much mind. The same applies to Japanese mint sets and especially the 1975. If the coins weren't removed by about ten years ago and stabilized they are just ruined now. Some of the fiji sets and the 1968 to 1984 US mint sets are not stable. Many proof coins are also susceptible to damage from the packaging.
In a lot of ways that describes market grading, I think. Guessing the market grade is a lot like guessing the grader's tastes on that particular day. I love it when we, "got it right." What exactly did we get right? At least in technical grading there are objective standards we can hold the graders to. The coins wear in certain ways, there are no two ways about that. In market grading, it's like guessing how they feel. If you guess it, you "got it right." Boy that's some meaningful collector participation in a hobby, isn't it, trying to guess how a grader feels?
Frankly Eddie, I subscribe to traditional ANA standards.......They're not affected by what one grader had for lunch today.
Been keeping my proof sets in a backpack in the orig Mint packaging. Was thinking of getting a couple of these to move them out of my backpack. Bad idea?
Those containers should be fine, but you also need to follow all the rest of proper storage procedures as described in previous posts in this thread.
Been keeping my proof sets in a backpack in the orig Mint packaging. Was thinking of getting a couple of these to move them out of my backpack. Bad idea?
Thanks. There seems to be a lot of back and forth about what else to do. I’m thinking I’ll remove from the card board outer boxes and keep them in the hard plastic cases then put the hard plastic cases in the bin I put in the picture?
The cardboard outer box is part of the original government packaging. There are people that collect only sets with all of the original government packaging.
Is it safe to keep that outer cardboard box in the same plastic bin with the coins? Can I keep the whole set together in the bin?
No. And no. The entire idea is to get the coins away from the cardboard and paper. Paper products put off gasses that are harmful to coins. So all the paper products have to be stored separately and away from the coins. Put all the packaging in one bin, and the coins in another bin, and store each in separate places.
Phil I would have to disagree, at least for long term stroage. That said, I have some mint sets stored in zip lock bags. My concern is that all plastics "off gas" over time. What gases, depends of the type of plastic. Some are more stable then others. Today, more and more of the plastics we encounter are designed to breakdown faster then plastics from the past and off gassing is part of that process. These are more often trash and grocery bags, for environmental reasons. My other concern is that it's nearly impossible to seal a zip lock bag without trapping some air and thereby moisture in it. Remember the air we breathe contains moisture (humidity). This moisture can condense when temperatures decrease. Try this experiment. Take an ordinary zip lock back. Trap some air in it and toss it in the freezer. In about 30 minutes, take it out and see if you have ice crystals. Now, yes its an extreme experiment, but illustrates the point. If your wanting to store and protect from moisture, use vacuum/seal bags. And if you have access, a desiccant pouch wouldn't hurt either. At least your removing nearly all the air and thereby moisture from the sealed bag.
I read that the answer for storing coins is mostly what the collector decides is right for them. I'm probably wrong, but my process is to open the shipping box and check to make sure all is there. Then, I prep the shipping box to be a storage box for the coin(s). Recently, I have been getting USM coins/coin set wrapped in blank newsprint. (I'm an accountant. What do I know about the damage newsprint can do?) For purchases I get from USM, I print the coins/coin sets USM description and cut and past it on the outside of the box. OK. Now tell me what I am doing wrong. Thanks. This great info.
I agree with MOST of the comments as to whether to remove or not. BUT I have found out that in Proof sets issued in the "Black Box" series the material that houses the coins is NOT inert and can cause discoloration/contamination etc. Further if you collect Uncirculated Mint sets in the old cellophane wrappers, it is best to check them for small holes caused by rubbing against each other or the hard cardboard inserts, I collect both and during this time of isolation I have gone through several hundred of each(proof&unc. sets) and have found many that needed to be removed and placed in other forms of containment. Check them out save them before it is to late.
personally I buy several mint and proof sets then crack open sets for my Dansco albums so than I got both album and ogp sets
