Hi, I'm new to collecting coins and currently have about 200 different ones, all of them circulated and not too rare, I'm afraid. Being new, I don't have any equipment to store my collection in, and I'd like to buy some basic equipment, something to start with... I've learned there are albums, tubes, air-tight holders and many other different ways to store coins, and frankly, I'm a bit confused as to which I should choose for my collection. I'd like to get your tips on how to store my coins (do keep in mind that I'm looking for something cheap, at least to start with, and that my coins aren't top grade any way. As I said, I'm just a beginner). Also, can you direct me to a good trustworthy website from which I can purchase such equipment? (a website that supports international delivery will be excellent) Thanks for your help.
Good question, which Doug should have an answer for in his Numismatic Resources sub-forum. Since he doesn't, here's a small selection of available sources I have bookmarked. Some of the more popular general supply sellers include: Brent-Kreuger Jake's JP's Corner Coin Supply Brooklyn Gallery Air-Tite Intercept Shield Krause Publications and Whitman Publishing also offer many useful proprietary books and storage items. For lots of tips on how to store your coins, do a forum search on "coin storage" and read the many fine threads on that subject weighing the relative merits of 2x2s, albums, folders, and individual coin holders.
wizardcoinsupply is another decent place that I've done a lot of shopping at. If most of your stuff is circulated, low value and you want to stay on the cheaper side, you'd probably be well suited to just getting some tubes. I really like the square ones as opposed to the round ones. They just store better, whether standing or laying down. There's cheaper cardboard albums if you're looking to do a set. Or, you can go with a higher quality album such as a Dansco, or Intercept Shield. The higher quality ones will run you about $25-$30 on average but they're worth it IMO. Depends on what you're trying to do. If you plan on buying any individual, higher dollar coins you can get the appropriate sized Intercept shield, plastic 2x2s and their storage boxes. They also make air-tites which come in handy for some applications as well. No right or wrong answers here.
For the majority of my coins, I use basic cardboard 2" x 2" holders which include inert Mylar or cellophane windows. All my raw coins are in the identical holders for 40 + years. There are many albums and boxes available which will house coins in 2x2s. Also, you can use basic 2x2 plastic flips. Just make certain that you use flips that are PVC free (hard) so that you do not contaminate your coins with PVC over long term archival storage. Welcome to the forum. Very best regards, collect89
