I pulled my coins out of the SDB today to number them all and inspect them. A few of the coins are starting to tone in their envelopes. The only thing exhibiting toning was mint state silver. This Canadian half dollar is starting to develop nice toning. The "frosty" look was already on the coin in the mint set. This particular coin was put away 9th September 2013.
Well yes and no... After buying a box of coins in littleton envelopes from the early 1980s, I discovered just about every coin in there was rainbow toned, and most of them looked beautiful. I've tried every storage method and like envelopes the best. 1. Cardboard 2x2's have dust that scratch and put black dots on coins. 2. Airtites have no way to label, expensive, and are hard to remove coins from. 3. Snaplocks are too bulky and too expensive for cheap pieces. 4. Flips are expensive and scratch easily if handling them for a while. I've always heard envelopes damage coins. Yet I have never pulled a black or otherwise horribly toned coin from an envelope. The coins I bought were from a box of 200 and everyone I looked at did not have unattractive toning. Every metal from silver, copper, brass, aluminum, and stainless was in the mix. The coin you see below came from an enevelope from littleton.
That half has some really nice toning already . How often do you check them ? The reason I ask is if this is the first time checking them and you wait the same amount of time they could start to look terrible . Also if you use compressed air to blow the dust away , 2X2s are great for storing cheaper coins . Just make sure the staple ends are down into the cardboard .
Well the only reason I checked them is because I put all of them in new envelopes. The place I used to get them doesn't have them any more, and the new ones were a different color, so my OCD kicked in. I have one Whitman plastic 2x2 Full of just Great Britain. I will probably check it again in another year.
Air-Tites aren't expensive. If you buy them online and in bulk they're about $0.60 each. Envelope coin looks good though.
Still I'd check them every 3 to 6 months , it's better to be safe than sorry . Remember SDB were meant to store paper not coins , so most have a relatively high humidity .
You never know how coins will come out of envelopes. Some are pretty and others are ugly. I don't see them as a safe storage method.
Leave your coins in them , and you will. Toning is progressive, so unless you stop it by changing the storage method, eventually it will turn black.
Yes, exactly. I HAVE pulled horribly corroded coins out of paper envelopes, (thankfully not my own). Btw, flips are expensive? I pay like $6 for 100 of them. Even envelopes cannot be much cheaper.....
http://www.brooklyngallery.com/cgi-bin/commerce.exe?preadd=action&key=0134-CFE010.5 Bulk safety flips in packs of 1000 for $45 plus shipping. No inserts, but I have so many from prior purchases I do not need them. If you need inserts: http://www.brooklyngallery.com/cgi-bin/commerce.exe?preadd=action&key=0134-CFE010 Still less than $.06 each if you buy 1000 of them. I guess I always assume everyone needs to buy at least 1000 flips at a time, right?
I make my own flip cards with a primative jig. You can also use flip cards with staple holders by attaching them with the last staple used to secure the holder. You can even attach 2 cards if you space them right.
I hate to see staples within a yard of a coin but the prongs sticking up as shown in the photo is positively nauseating. Only one coin in a thousand will be scratched. That is too many. Rather than buying cut tags, consider buying acid free 65 lb card stock in 8 1/2 x 11 sheets and cutting with a paper cutter (available for lower prices now). You can even print the sheet on a printer and cut them separately afterwards. I'm too lazy to do that but if fancy tags are your goal and you don't have thousands of coins, you could really design something interesting.
No need to be nauseated-it's a prop. There is no coin in the holder. Wasn't that obvious from the note cards?
so...is this damaging the coin or no? (the toning in that type of paper not for storage specifically)