It's a crap shoot..some do and some don't. I haven't tried it on cents. I started melting those down.
Just pulled my peace dollar set out that i haven't looked at in a while and I have two coins just beginning to tone. I have had a slip case for two years now. I have this sick feeling in my gut. So what do you guys recommend now, Intercept shield album or airtites?
Tater - Can you be more specific about you store your albums ? I mean are they in a closed conatainer with silica gel packs ? Are they stored in the dark ? Are they stored someplace in your home where the temperature rarely changes ? All of these things are more important than the holder itself.
I have them in the album, in the slip case, in a large zip lock in a cabniet with a couple silica gel packs. Just normal tempature changes of any house, and living in Utah low humidity.
OK, is it safe to assume that this cabinet just sits out in the open then ? And the silca packs, are they inside the ziplocks with the album ?
yes one silica pack is. The tone has begun on two coins around the rim. Speaking of tempature, how does the tone of a coin look that maybe stored in variable tempature.
That all depends on too many other variables. Toning is the culmination of many things, never just one. One other question - this album, is it one of their older ones or is a new one ?
The reason I ask is this, their newer albums are made of archival materials - the older ones are not. So even with the slipcase, it very well may be the album itself that is causing the toning. Now I have discussed this more times than I can count. But if you want to discourage toning then proper storage methods must be followed. There are several things that make up proper storage methods. First and foremost is do not use albums - period. 2 - Each coin needs to be in its own hard plastic holder - your choice as there are many. 3 - coins must be stored in a closed container. That can be anything from a safe to a Tupperware container. But it needs to be closed to prevent air circulation. 4 - storage area needs to be in the dark 5 - storage area needs to be someplace where the temperature does not change much, like in a closet 6 - silca gel packs must be used and they need to be in the container with the coins. They also need to be checked, regularly, so that they can be recharged when needed. Do those things and you have pretty much done everything you can do to prevent toning. Don't do them or do them differently, or leave even 1 out - and you risk the consequences.
Great post! The Dansco Albums that I have an am working on are either filled with circulated coins (Walkers, SLQs, Liberty Nickels) which I am not too worried about and the Lincoln Cent one is also filled with mainly circulated coins, there's some red ones but I am not terribly bothered if my MS62/3RD 40s-50s cents tone. Anything Mint State that's not slabbed or in a GSA holder is in an intercept shield holder. I bought a number of Intercept Shield boxes and I keep everything I want to protect in there. I also threw some silica gel packets in the safe as well, just to err on the side of caution.
In some instances/conditions you can have photochemical reactions. Sunlight is especially bad and yes it does cause heat and temperature changes.
Please explain why albums are a non-starter. I have mostly common dates now, but would like to plan for the day I have some keys.
Because for common, circulated coins they are fine - you're not going to hurt those coins by using a an album. But get into the XF, AU or MS grades and you can hurt the coin by using an album. First of all you have to push the coin down into the album hole with your finger - thus either putting fingerprints on the coin or hairlining it if you wear gloves. Secondly because the sliding covers in albums scratch coins. Thirdly because albums are made of cardboard and cardboard attracts and holds moisture - it pulls it right out of the air. All 3 of these things are harmful to coins - thus albums cannot be good for coins.