Preservation of heritage is kind of a numismatist kind of thing. My dad died when I was only about 4 years old, and anything I have from him has a special significance. With that being said, I still understand that you would like to preserve the state of the cents with both Preston and your husband being able to enjoy them, so what I would do is to transfer them to a nice Dansco album that shows both sides and protects the coins and shows them in a presentation similar to what it was before. The old album could be kept or trashed.
My dad has coins that have Stayed in the same case for over 50 years because my grand father ( his father) put them in the cases.