Britannia Bullion Storage Question

I just received today my first Britannia One oz bullion coin today. This is the most poorly packaged coin I have ever received. I don't know if I could describe how it was packaged, but I will give it my best.... First the coin was seated in a plastic holder.... so one side was exposed and one side was protected. The plastic holder was firmly housed in a 6inchx4inch card stock with the type of coin on one side and the description of the coin (specs) on the other. Then it was placed in a pastic bag to protect it and mailed that way. Well...... I wasn't aware that one side wasn't protected so when I grabbed the coin to look at it, I put my thumb right smack over the face of the coin. There was a big greasy finger print on the coin..... hey, Im Italian what can I say. I thought that it was like the us mints coins in our special mint sets when the coin is in the plastic holder and you could spin it around...... ya know what I'm talking about? Not the hard plastic capsuls, but the soft ones that cannot be removed like the ones in the Marine coin and stamp or the American Bald eagle coin and medal one. Do you know what I am talking about now?

Anyway, I quickly called a stat blue emergency and raced to my kitchen sink. I ran it under warm water but the print did not go away. I didn't want to put any soap on it for fear of damaging it, so I gave it a quick acetone bath. That removed most of the print, but I ended up using a little bit of dish detergent with degreaser to get rid of the remaining fingerprint. I know it was just intended to be bullion and that is why they didn't protect it, but man it caught me off guard. I learned a lesson.

So now the real question.... how do you store these????? Do you take them out of their original package and put the coin in a plastic flip or do you just store it as is in the orginal holder with the plastic covering? Thanks for your help.

 

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HA! I did precisely the same thing when I got mine. I cursed my stupidity and moved on with life. Hopefully it'll tone a dark gray, and the print will be lost in the color.

 

I bought one of these, too and was surprised about the packaging. Fortunately, I caught what was going on before I actually touched the coin. I put mine in an Airtite (the same size as the Silver Eagles).

 

I was cursing with you! LOL!

Funny that you mentioned that because I did the same thing.... the problem was that the coin was just a tad bit smaller than our ASE so the capsul wouldn't stay closed/sealed.

I guess I could staple it in a 3x3.... won't fit in a 2x2.

It is a gorgeous coin. I also received the 4 coin fractional proof set..... now talk about stunning. The us mint would make a fortune if they did the same with the ASE series. Mexico has a 5 Libertad fractional set. I will be getting that one in here very shortly.

 

I have always put them in Airtites with no problem dd:

 

I place mine in airtites as I detest the mint packaging on them, the same happens with the Austrian and Dutch 5 euros they are only sealed on one side!! Just how stupid is that

 

i certaiy hope yu will listen to me one day. get an is holder for it. if you cant find one for the size then just get an airtite and putit in an i box this particulr coin i ould gt rid off as a present or somthing what you did t the coin will shop up soon or later

 

I doubt you did any real damage by just a bit of water, mild soap and a quick dip....Like others have said, put it in an airtite and it should be no problem. Next time wash your grubby paws

 

Thanks everyone for the comments. Drusus, funny thing is that I normally wash my hands before working with my coins, but figured I would cut a corner because I thought the coin was protected... learned a lesson. Coin is ok. I was worried about hairline scratches on the coin from where I had touched and cleaned it, but fortunately no marks or scratches under a 16x loupe. I air dried it and it looks fine. I typically use a hair dryer that my wife has that you can turn off the heat feature and just blow cool air, but I didn't need to do that. Everything looks good so back into the plastic bag until I can find a more permanent contaner for the coin.

And Spock, did you say that you wanted me to send you this as a gift? Hmmmm let me think abou that.

 

What did he say ... What did he say !!!
Spock appears to write in some type of broken language :hammer:
His brain must move faster than his fingers

 

I purchased a silver proof coin from a market in spain...while handing it It slipped in my hand...fearful I would get fingerprints on the coin I instinctively pulled my hands away.

The coin dropped to the street...which was much worse than letting any fingerprints get on it.


Funny now I think about it.

 

Yep, sounds like something I would do.

 

I got one of these too not to long ago and it was my first one also. I hear you on the packaging. Luckily I didn't touch it.

I put mine in an Intercept Shield 2x2 that was made for ASE's. Then I put it in an IS 2x2 box.