A week into the new year, I realized I had made no resolutions. Perhaps that's all for the best, but I've now decided to make one involving my coin collection: I will buy no more coins for my collection until everything I have now is properly organized. This means: Everything not yet submitted for third-party certification must be sent off to PCGS or NGC. Coins in defective holders must be reholdered. (I'll be having a word with you about trapped-gas-related slab bulging, NGC.) Everything must have satisfactory photographs, including secondary photos of the slabs themselves. At least the proof and brilliant coins (if not everything else) should have short video clips shot of them as well, which can be made into animated GIF images to better display luster, toning, mirrors, etc. Everything must receive a brief writeup, if only a short description of the technical details, but preferably also a short 1-4 sentence paragraph about the coin's history and/or backstory about why I added it to my collection, etc. The albums for the collection (for when it is out for display and not in the safe deposit box) need to be completed. I have begun working on them and will post pictures when they're done. Though mine is a small collection which only just reached 50 pieces, I've been in need of a "consolidation phase" for a while.
Hang on -- do you mean their slabs are gas-tight, meaning that they bulge when you take them to high altitudes? That's kind of a big deal if so. I know you're not trying to make me feel bad, but...
I am. I'm no longer participating. Hanging out trading or buying under priced 80's mint sets or bidding on tubes of ike dollars just doesn't seem to tickle my fancy. Seems like a bunch of folks looking to turn a 5 dollar investment into 6 or competing with other proof set bidders just isn't much fun.
I don't know what's causing it, but some of the slabs noticeably had visible "bubbles": an oily looking dark patch between the white insert and the clear outer shell, which would move around when pressed on. This phenomenon is described here but there are no photos. It was like trapped moisture. I've seen it with lots of the current-generation NGC holders. The slabs that once had these apparent bubbles of moisture trapped inside have since swollen and bulged noticeably, even causing the label inside to buckle, as if they're about to explode from within! Someone else posted a photo of this here. Only the holders which once had those trapped bubbles are now bulged. My slabs have not been on an airplane except for when they were initially shipped from NGC, so altitude is not the issue. I live on the coast, at sea level. My coins are kept in a climate-controlled environment. They were briefly exposed to some heat (but not extreme sun) during the last hurricane evacuation when they were in my car. Heat may be what caused the swelling, but I notice that only the ones that once had those weird moisture bubbles inside have swollen and bulged- the rest are fine. A friend of mine has had similar bulging problems with some of his NGC slabs, and with relatively new ones at that. His have never been exposed to heat. Though he lives in the mountains (Western NC), he is not at especially high altitude (probably 3,000-4,000 feet at most).
Coin clubs should be about more than the auctions. Our club promotes coin collecting to the community and younger generations, gives college scholarships to graduating seniors. It is also a time to sit down with other collectors and pick their brains about unknown parts of the hobby. Clubs are what you make of them, and it takes everyone to have a good club.
Huh. Now I'll have to go find the few slabbed coins that I've acquired and see if any of them have this issue.
I like that goal of getting much more organized with my coins. A place for everything and everything in its place. New 2X2's for my world coins albums. Sell/trade unwanted coins that do not fit my collection anymore. Make current lists of every coin (yikes). I think I have photos of all my coins.
Very similar to my resolution. I need to go ahead and tackle it because it seems overwhelming at this moment.
That's quite the resolution. I hope you can keep it and know the satisfaction of have it all done. Good luck.
Lordm. Those are some pretty lofty goals and I hope you can get it done. But not buy another coin until that is done?! You are more disciplined than I am!
Seriously though. I don't think there's anything I could do to make it less boring. I just joined and only have attended one time so perhaps I'm being too harsh and expecting too much. I do like the auctions. Just not much other content.
Anyone judging the Red Rose Coin Club my tonight's meeting will NOT get a strong picture. Tonight is budget approval night. VERY dry.
I think I had a different picture of what coin club might look like. I don't know. Coins everywhere to look at, people spilling knowledge perhaps. Not impressed judging by this one time. Perhaps I'll attend one or two more and hope for something more entertaining.
Organization is definitely important. Last year I finally achieved my goal of transferring most info from paper to an excel spreadsheet. Now it’s much easier to keep track of everything. I’m interested in seeing some of your write ups as having the story with the coin will be fun to read.