How to Take Up Unused Space in a Coin Box

I have been transferring my collection of slabbed coins from albums into Lighthouse Intercept boxes to save space and hopefully improve the environment in which my coins reside. One problem I've encountered is when the box isn't full. These boxes do not have slots to hold the slabs so if a row isn't full, the slabs will rattle around if they aren't restrained. The boxes come with one friction-held barrier that is OK but only one per box and I don't think they are really that secure. I didn't want to use things like the cardboard tubes from TP rolls or wadded up paper towels since these products all contain sulfur and other contaminants.

I bought a couple of spring-loaded, polystyrene TP roll holders off Amazon, cut and drilled some 1/4" plexiglass, cut some 5/16" brass all-thread and came up with these spring-loaded, adjustable spacers. The nut is just hot-glued to the plexiglass in lieu of any kind of glue due to concerns about out-gassing from the glue. The minimum space one will occupy is 4" and the maximum is 9-3/4". But it can be made longer simply by making the all-thread rod longer. The plexiglass is about the same hardness as the slabs to minimize the chance of scratches.

Now, I need to come up with one that will go less than 4" but that will be more involved and require more work than the 2 hours I have in the solution displayed.

 

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Great idea! I think all of us had dealt with this issue and you’ve come up with a solution that is effective.

Here all along I’ve just been buying more and more coins hoping to fill the voids!

 

Practical and effective, I like it. Well done and thanks for sharing such a great solution.

 

You can get some of this for your spaces under 4”. It is called backer Rod and I have a bunch of it from when I was patching up my old house to sell. It’s just compressed foam and costs hardly nothing at the home store. Not nearly as creative as your solution though.

 

My solution is simple ...buy more coins

 

Nice idea, I just used to use a piece of bubble rap, but sometimes it isn't enough to fill the void.

 

very creative solution!

 

Backer rod and other foams will certainly work and are easily cut and compressed to suit. The reason I didn't want to use these materials is because, with all foam products, there is always a question as to what gases they might release. Almost all foam products are either open cell or semi-closed cell and those cells (little air pockets) contain stuff. Also, most foam products degrade over time. I wanted to only use components that I could be absolutely certain would not cause a problem in both the short and long term. How do I know these TP rolls won't degrade? Well, I've had the same ones in my house for 32 years and have never had a catastrophic failure.

 

I thought the industry standard was cardboard paper towel rolls?

 

That’s where I thought this thread is going.

 

Always like to see examples of useful ingenuity!

You didn't use any duct tape though, which would have qualified as "Redneck Ingenuity" and scored you even more points!

 

Of course you have a sophisticated adjustable solution - I have crumpled newspaper. I love those double wide Intercept slab boxes though.

 

I'm liking the idea of a spring-loaded coin box. Very ingenious!

 

When the box is full you can put your neat contraption between your knees and squeeze it a few reps.. Tone up your thigh muscles!

I like your idea.

 

Please... nothing that complex

Buy a left-over pool noodle at the discount store. A serrated knife cuts them like butter. When you buy the next couple coins, a quick slice brings the noodle down to size. You can use the 1/2" slices to separate coins into groups.

 

Or a
Jump Pop Out Spring Snake Gag Toy.

 

I use bubble wrap or bubble envelopes. We get some from Amazon several times per week at no extra cost. Easy to trim to size with scissors. It's inert too.

Cal

 

That's a great and simple solution. But, being an engineer and a machinist, I much prefer to make the solution something that fits the hammer I have.

 

It's a poor tool that blames the workman

 

Here is my solution. Very low tech and requires a pair of scissors and some stiff cardboard, assembly time is less than a minute.