Never Seen One This Old

I remembered that David Lange wrote a series of articles for the Barber Coin Collectors' Society journal in 2022, so I dug them out. Martin Luther Beistle devised the first coin album in 1929. These were the Unique brand albums that later became the National Coin Album. Prior to that, coins were stored in cabinets or paper envelopes. Cheaper coin boards proliferated during the 1930s. Whitman produced boards for Barber quarters, oddly titled Morgan Type Quarter Collector. There was another one called Morgan Dime - Liberty Head. I'll have to re-read thoroughly to see where they got the notion that these were Morgan coins. Mr. Lange's two part series only covered the coin boards. I didn't see Wayte Raymond mentioned, but I'd guess the OP's album dates from later than the 1930s. More research...

 

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Yes indeed, that album is one of the earlier Wayte Raymonds. Notice how the Meghrigs have a similar style, but a black spine? Makes it kinda fun and the Barber Quarter book is something you don't see as often.

 

Of course they would tarnish. Who knows what was used in the paper of those things. There was no R&D into keeping coins untoned at that time like there is today. Besides that they'd be open to the air.

Cool old folder though. Sometimes they would impart attractive toning. Yeah I would say the last date, dates it.

 

https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/2160/USA-Coin-Album/ written by David Lange. The article is mostly about the myth that these old albums will still produce spectacular toning.

"The coin albums in question are those produced for and marketed by the late coin dealer Wayte Raymond under his National brand. It applies, too, to the clones of his albums sold by M. Meghrig & Sons as the American album; these products were essentially identical aside from their brand names and catalog numbers (Meghrig numbers were simply the Raymond numbers preceded by a numeral 1). The National album was marketed by Wayte Raymond starting in the early 1930s and was continued, following his 1956 death, by Alan W. Faxon, while the Meghrig clones first appeared in the early 1950s. Both companies had ceased production of these albums by 1965, driven from the market by better albums introduced 1958-61"

This doesn't help us specifically date the OP's album. Since Alan W. Faxon is shown as "distributor", perhaps this means it was following Raymond's death in 1956.