When storing freshly minted coins, say in Air-tite direct fit capsules or any other capsules, do you do anything to the coin before encapsulating it? Do you do anything different for copper, nickel, silver or gold coins?
Nothing special. I handle only with gloves of course and by the edge of the coin and may fan away any lint, dust, etc. if necessary. TC
I usually give them an Acetone bath, drained and dumped onto a thick white towel, then rinsed with distilled water. Followed by a blast of compressed air. I hate fingerprinted stained coins I only handle them with medical type plastic disposable tweezers from that point forward until their final resting place into the airtite.
I don't add any chemicals to my coins. My preferred coin holder is the Marcus and Whitman plastic holders.
Never have received a freshly minted coin. I would have to stand right there at the Mint to get one and not sure that is allowed. I don't use air tights for any coins. Not even proofs. I do nothing different with any coins. They almost all go into Whitman Albums direct. Of course I do handle by the edges but if they don't go in easily, I hit them with a ball pean hammer. Nylon tipped of course. If they appear to have any haze on them, I spit on them, rub with a soft, piece of emery cloth, then place in the albums. :goofer: Probably should put some 10W30 or W40 on the Silver ones though so they shine better. Quaker State works best. All in fun. I really don't do anything special and have had no problems of coins fading, corroding, tarnishing, toning, etc. for a long time now.
Yeah, I like the Whitman 2x2 plastics too. Have had good long term results with them. But, I'm looking at the Air-tite direct fits for long term storage because you can store them in tubes, which takes less room than the 2x2's. I say, direct fits, because I haven't had good luck with the ring fit Air-tites. I had 3 SOL commem silver dollars in ring fits for about 10 years and all of them had a hazy milky white toning around the coin where it touch the ring. Anyone else notice a problem with the ring fits?
Sounds like my husband LOL! This made me laugh. My husband is relatively new to coin collecting and I had to educate him on the proper handling of coins. First I had to explain to him that using the end of a pen cap to "guide" a coin into a Dansco album was not a good idea. I eventually got him to use cotton gloves when handling his coins. But then one day I looked at his cotton gloves and saw chocolate smudges. Apparently while handling his coins he was helping himself to some chocolate turtles too. Sigh ... I just keep trying!! Anyway I digress, for coins from the mint - I don't do anything but put them in a holder or album. Since they are from the mint they should not need any treatment in my opinion.
Yeah, that's what I understand, they're supposed to be inert, but that's my only experience with the rings. Guess if no one else has had this problem it could be some other factor that toned the coins. But then, I have never seen this type of milky white toning from any other holder.
That’s been my thinking too, fresh out of rolls, so nothing’s on them. But, I’ve read articles that explain that different chemicals, lubricants, etc used in the minting process do get on the coins and although the coins are given a rinse after striking them, it’s not enough to ensure they’re totally free of contaminants – the rinse solution may even be a contaminant. Now, The Mint does state that the new satin finish coins have been given extra care to ensure they’re not soiled, but regular business strikes may not be as lucky. I don’t know for sure, as I’ve never stored any quantity of freshly minted coins in after market holders - so I don’t know if a certain percentage of them are destroy because of what was on them from the mint.
I really have no idea of just how exact the Mint is with the finishing of litterally billions of coins. I strongly suspect that any high quality process is utilized but since most done with tax money, anything is possible. As I've mentioned many times, I put all my coins in either Whitman Classic Albums, 2x2's, plastic rolls. So far in well over 60 years of collecting, many of my first coins still look like they did from way back then. No problems with any of my Albums. You should always remembert though that it is really difficult to make anything air tight. Over a long period of time many types of gasses can get to a coin regardless of how it is stored. Coins are just metal an all metals combine with something. Although many people think Gold, for example, does not tarnish, corrode, etc., that metal also does.
Haze on modern commems is very common - no matter what holder they are in. It is believed to be caused by the washing process at the mint. Same for modern Proofs.
One thing that bothers me in regards to storage is proof coins stored in cardboard flips. The moment you remove them you encounter all sorts of particulates. It isn't so drastic when a flip is oversized (a Half Dollar size for a Quarter) because you can cut the plastic versus the cardboard... but even still. I store my coins like this in a safe with silica units
Yeah, I've seen the milky spots that look like they're from the rinsing solution, but I don't have that milky white toning around any of the other commems that I left in the original mint capsules. If no one else has noticed this problem, I guess it could also be that somehow I contaminated the coins when moving them to the Air-tites with rings. Maybe it was that bagel with cream cheese and bacon I was eating at the time. :eat:
Haze and milk spots are two different things. But both are said to be caused by the washing process. And if you haven't seen hazy coins - then you need to look at more coins. It is extremely common.
I've got about 25 of those plastic pages that hold 20 - 2x2's. All full of proofs and no problems at all. Been doing that for many, many years. Of course in about 200 or 300 years from now they may start toning or something. If they do, I'll let you know.
Just Carl, I was just about to say that 95% of people do lol. But I still feel that this isn't a good practice because when it comes time to transfer, especially if you have to cut, some foreign matter will usually end up on the coin. And if it does, your now looking at shooting air on it to get rid of it, which can also be dangerous. I admit, it may not be a big deal to most others, but it could drop you a grade point. A speck of cardboard will tone into a little dot which simply wouldn't happen if proofs in 2x2s wasn't so accepted.
