Anyone tried making labels for 2X2's ?

I posted recently over in the world coin forum about expanding my birth year US coin collection worldwide. As such I was thinking, how do I want to organize and store this collection of world coins.

A large majority of them won't be worth a whole ton of cheddar so I'm thinking 2x2's in either 2x2 boxes or maybe a binder with 3 hole punched sheets, I have some of those already, I think they are BCW PVC free.

Then I got to thinking about what I usually write on my 2x2's and also how messy they look when I'm done because I don't have the neatest writing and I often end up trying to cram things in.

Which leads to the main topic of discussion here. Labels. I have a stack of 8.5"x11" sized labels/sticker paper. That's the whole sheet is a single "sticker". So at first I thought oh, perfect I'll just make my own thin labels to put at the top and bottom of each 2x2 and that's still a viable option.

However, I also own a Silhouette craft cutter I use for making vinyl stickers. It will also cut this paper so I'm wondering now. How hard would it be to make basically an overlay cutout that would cover the whole front of the 2x2 sans the mylar window thus covering the ugly staples and leaving a nice neat label of information.

Has anyone seen anything like this or tried it? It could be alot of work to get setup but once I have the templates saved I could make more in a matter of minutes. I think I can do 12 per sheet conservatively.

The tricky part is making different sized holes for cents, dimes, quarters, nickels, half dollars, small dollars, large dollars, etc. Maybe I could just do 2 sizes that would cover them all.

 

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Those appear to be versions of address labels, which while useful, doesn't quite serve the purpose I'm looking for.

I have labels, a whole stack of them in fact. The are whole sheet labels which I can easily cut to meet my needs. The kicker for me, or what I'm wondering about is have the label cover the entire 2x2, except with a hole in the middle like a weird square donut, LOL

I might end up just having to try laying it out for my cutter and seeing if it's reasonably possible without going mad

 

You are putting them in 2X2's. Are you going to then put them in vinyl pages designed for 2X2"s? You could number them and put an index page in front describing each.
In some of my collections I include a description page in my folders. The page shows the commercial example and my coin.

 

That was one thought ya, like what you have on the far right in your picture. That is an idea as well, in fact I could do an information page before each coin page for the 16 coins that follow if I organized it well.

I'd still prefer to have info on the 2X2 itself as well though, hmmm....will have to give this idea some consideration though.

 

I think an ink pad and customizable stamper would be easier and look just as professional.

 

Hmm - that would be ok for Dates and Grades, maybe denominations. Not a bad idea, and that had crossed my mind as well.

I also have a label maker, I think it's a brother and that's an idea too. Those little labels are pricey though, lol

 

Here are some more pics:

 

Oh, ok I see how you've got it. Thanks for sharing!

 

Making labels for 2x2s is a lot of work and like you said, different size holes will reduce the amount of space you have. I, personally think hand printing your information, uniformly, on each 2x2 would be best, but that's just me. Oh, you might also want to invest in those self-sticking 2x2s so you don't have to deal with staples. Also gives you more blank space to write on. Just a thought.

 

I actually do have some of those, I know some people are hesitant to use them due to the unknowns concerning the adhesive so now I'm a bit paranoid but they are a whole lot cleaner looking.

If I give this a try I'm going to stick to small dollar sizes and under for the label making. We'll see how ambitious I am but I need to test and see how much of a pain it will be to do first

 

I don't have any personal experience with these craft cutters but my sister-in-law has a Cricut that with her laptop, makes anything you can imagine. Making a sticky overlay for a 2x2 with a circular window opening for the coin would be child's play for her. And you can print anything you want on the sticker while in the process of being cut out. Any font, size, color, etc.

I think this would look fantastic! And, it doesn't preclude other ideas like a printed page with additional information that won't fit on the 2x2 sticker.

 

Ya so mine is similar to a cricut, but it's an older one and just a different brand. I've primarily used it for making vinyl stickers (like for your car windows i.e.) I can't print with mine so I'd have to print first then cut, which is no big deal. So the only issue I can foresee would be lining it all up between programs and processes. I do think I'll give it a go and that's a great point that it's not exclusive here, I can still incorporate some of the other great ideas.

 

Well... Hmmmm. many brands sell 2x2 square sticker labels, the only problem would be to cut the right sized hole in them. circle hole punch, but many arent' cheap. depends on sizes, like I use nickel size for dimes and cents, sometimes quarter size for quarters and nickels and then large dollar size for anything bigger than a quarter. so thats windows for like 21.21mm, 24.26mm, and 38.1mm
something like that, you'd want a nice clean hole in the center of the 2x2 sticker to put over the 2x2 I'd think.

It can be done, and you could print it on the computer even, lettering backgrounds, all kinds of stuff, but I think it would be cheaper to use file folder labels of similar size to cover above and below the window and type in there in small lettering and use it just for lettering and not get so involved in it for your own sanity.

those decent craft cutters are like $200-$300 or more each. they get really expensive.....

You know with a bit of effort, you could probably use the template from the Avery 2x2 labels I think its Label Number 22806 and set up the printer, or like 2x2 passport photos and print directly onto the 2x2s avoiding the decals... maybe... I've never tried it.

it's been done before by people tough if you dig around.
https://en.numista.com/forum/topic44637.html

 

Oh i already have a cutter, mine's a silhouette as opposed to the Cricut that more people are familiar with, probably because of Walmart.


I agree though if this seems like it's gonna be a major pain I'll just use smaller size strips for the top and bottom and print on those.

 

you know thinking about it, I think the avery 22806 is the right label as long as it's laser or ink jet and sticker back like I think it is.

Then you'd use a 2x2 cut out the mylar window and use it as a template to cut out the center with an exacto knife to fit the windows for the 2x2 size.
This could work except for all the cutting of circles but you could print it all kinds of designs and pictures and all that jazz if you want.

 

That's good to know, I already have sticker sheets that I can cut to size with my paper cutter so I'm gonna try that first and see how it goes.

I also just found a 1" paper punch on amazon pretty cheap so I'm gonna try that instead of trying to mess with my craft cutter. That should cover me for quarters and smaller and if it works out well maybe I'll get the next size up to do larger coins. Anything much bigger goes in an airtite type holder anyway typically, Kennedy halves I put in 2x2s so whatever size those are I don't know off the top of my head.

 

Ok so I messed around for a few minutes and came up with this layout.....


The Hole is 1" and should be good for flips used for anything the size of a US quarter or smaller. If these work out I'll make another one with maybe a hole large enough for half dollars or similar size.

My personal inventory number will go on the back of the flip and that I will hand write. Am I forgetting anything pertinenet? The notes section could be used for varieties, to note the PM content, mention it's commemorative, etc.

 

I like it for the front, wouldn't be hard at all to keep the format and change the colors and flag for world coins. will be very uniform and clean across the collection. I'd suggest maybe consider to make a label for the reverse, maybe a flag overall with a box for your inventory number or something like that, make it even nicer and cover both sides of the staples. or just blank to cover the staples even really. I dunno it's your baby, just making suggestions.

 

Ya know I was thinking this morning it wouldn't really be that hard to just do the back as well. Also I might take the font size down a bit on the front so it's a little less detracting. I'll play around with it some more after work and maybe print up a few test pieces while I wait for my punch to show up.