How do you sort and store your collections?

I've been a bullion buyer for a few years and have started to dabble in numismatics.

I'm also an anal retentive, neat frek when it comes to inventory and stacking. Everything has to be grouped, everything has to be stacked and EVERYTHING has to be inventoried.

Here's where my "issues" come into play. Bullion is easy to sort but numixmatic coins are driving me completely insane.

How do you folks that have been collection for a while sort everything out? Country, then currency, then year, then denomination? Sguare tubes, flips, cardboard holders, Zip-Lock® bag's?

Here's a pretty generic example. Let's say that you have 150 Morgans in all different conditions and in several different types of holders. DO you break it down by grade, then year and mint and put the circulated in square tubes and gradable in airtites?

Currently, I would seperate them by gradable or circulated. Gradable into air tites and circulated into square tubes sorted by year and mint mark. I typically will have 2 or 3 different years in each tube with a little room for expansion so I can add one or two without much trouble.

The problem is when I get handfull of circulated that is supposed to be in the middle of tubes and then I have to start adding more and more tubes and rolls.

I've got about $6k face of US coins that I have accumulated and another 500ish foreign coins that I am sorting.

I am going to need some serious mental counselling if I don't get a system figured out soon.

:headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang:

 

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Most people turn to heavy drinking to help out!

 

For the morgans in your generic example, you can get Whitman or Harris folders with blank pages, sort them by date/mintmark, then use stick-on labels for the grade. If you aren't afraid of a little toning on the coins, this makes a nice organized presentation.

 

I just have my coins randomly scattered in a variety of large plastic containers in my safe. I pretend it's all organized and that I know exactly where each and every coin resides, and noone's the wiser. It makes me feel happy anyways.
Guy~

 

That is definately an option.

I do have several of these already for different coins and they DO work well when assembling sets, but some of these I have 30 of the same coin.

Maybe I could get a bulk discount from the factory

 

I would get some 2x2 flips, and some boxes, and assort them by date.
I would also assort them from worst-best condition for every date.

 

Dude, you are my long lost brother! I will pm you with how I got my stuff sorted.

 

I also have duplicates, which is why I like buying the blank pages that aren't preprinted with dates and mintmarks. Then you can label them any way you wish. You can devote an entire page to a single date/mintmark and sort them by condition if you want.

 

I need a 12 step program for my collecting!

 

Maybe Phoenix will give you that $.29 booklet he just got , you could check off all your pre 1964 U.S. coins . LOL
rzage

 

Try to keep it simple for now. 2x2 's and boxes (labeled) seems to work for me. P.S. I may be your long lost brother. lol

 

I am anything EXCEPT anal! I filled Ansco albums like crazy and regularly upgraded. The overflow was 2x2ed and stored in clear sheets in 3-ring binders... That is extremely flexible.

Rolls and tubes are in seperate boxes. My biggest problem is with certified coins and their infinite variety of shapes and sizes... they just overfill boxes...

Any ideas on where to buy 2x2s? In this biggish town of over 300k people I expect they should be available, but have not found them since I ran out... Anyone else in Anchorage?
art

 

Why not just order from somewhere like air-tites.com?

25/$1.00 or 100/$2.95

 

hap , juneau the capitol of Alaska ?
rzage

 

I have folders for nearly everything, after that 2x2s that go into coin pages for easy viewing.

 

I place all coins in Whitman Classic Albums then each goes into a zip lock plastic bag. Prior to zip locks, just a plastic bag with as much air pushed out as possible. Any coins not in an album goes into 2x2's, then into those Whitman Red two row cardboard boxes until there is enough to start another album. Now with over 100 albums.

 

Juneau is MUCH smaller than Anchorage and I live in Anchorage... Just seems a local place ought to have them...
thanks!
art

 

Spotco
Thanks for that and I did it already this morning after your post... I was just hoping for a local source...
art

 

I am a mylar flip in dbl row boxes guy. My BU's are in Airtites in 2.5" flips.

 

I just stack them in my safe as best as I can. My Bust Halves are in a three ring binder inside 2x2s and then slipped in a (9 slot) mylar page.

Take Care
Ben