has anyone ever used coin envelops like these: http://www.amazon.com/Columbian-CO5...F7GI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325205424&sr=8-1 ??? I bought a Morgan dollar with nice toning that spent years in one of these- the seller said that when he took it out of the envelop it was a pleasant surprise.
Not quite so large (back in the day) but yeah, I used 'em. I've since switched everything out to 2x2's and air tights but those old manila envelopes could spark some interesting toning. They could also spark some ugly "black" coins too.
the idea is to put coins in them for several years and see if they tone- I am not talking about 1804 dollars here- maybe some silver bu quarters or such.
Although the majority of my collection is/was in 2x2's, I have kept coins in envelopes for decades. You want one that has lots of sulfur in it if your goal is to tone the coin -- and some of them don't. I have no idea if the ones posted are those type or not -- I've not bought them in a very long time. It would be a very interesting experiment to buy a few different kinds and set an SAE in each of them, then compare the coins' toning over a period of time.
My grandfather kept every coin he ever owned in those envelopes until the day he died in 1962. And he started as a boy around 1910. Back then that's about all there was - albums and folders didn't exist yet. Just about every collector used those envelopes back then. I even used them as a boy.
I used them early on. Definitely not archival quality paper; heavy sulfur. Black toning particularly on the silver coins. And to me, not appealing.
If you do it be sure to strip all the coins with a commercial dip first and a good rinse with distilled water. You have to make sure that all the coins start out with the same type surface qualities or it isn't a valid test. Two coins just taken straight out of the same roll and put into two of the same envelope and kept together could develop very different toning depending on the thickness and distribution of oils on the coins just coming from the mint. And if two coins done like that gave different results how could you ever say anything about different types of envelopes? The stripping of the coins removes some of the unknown variables from the test and hopefully makes it more reproducible.
that would give good results for comparing holders. I would do a batch both with/without the rinse and also compare toning results. might be interesting to see the difference and maybe some cool toning.
Okay, so I found these Morgans in older coin envelopes and I can say they did tone nicely: http://www.cointalk.com/t197851/
I would think a few fresh ones from the mint would do just fine. It's not like they circulated, and there's nothing wrong with some variability. To the contrary I think it would be a much more representative sample than a bunch of freshly dipped coins. Or even better, one could do the experiment with dipped and undipped examples -- and compare the different types of envelopes and dipped/undipped examples.
That I don't know, they are a friends coins and he said they have been in her collection a long time. He doesn't know exactly when because it was a surprise to him she had any when he inherited them.
I was going through a bunch of older stuff the other day and found an Englehart prospector round I stuck in one of the small 2x2 envelopes that came out a beautiful icey blue. It has been in there about 15 years but it sure does look nice. Lack
The thing is you are trying to determine what the envelopes or different envelopes do. You need the subject coins to be as nearly as alike as possible. Even fresh coins from the mint are going to have varying thickness of oils on them and in different places. Did this coin tone more because the envelope is more active, or because the oil layer was thinner etc.