Hi I'm putting all my coins (in airtite or original mint capsule) in a intercept shield 2x2 box. I then put the box in a ziploc bag and put the whole in a safe deposit box. I'm thinking about buying the peli 40gram silica gel (http://www.amazon.com/Pelican-1500D...035O/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1290109222&sr=8-2) but not sure where to put it. The unit itself is too big to fit inside the 2x2 box or ziploc bag. Will it be able to absorb any moisture inside the 2x2 box through ziploc bag if I just place it inside the safe?
If I were you I wouldn't even worry too much about closing the ziplock bag. Especially sense its going into safe deposit box. If you insist on closing it though, I doubt it would be too affective inside the bag however it should get rid of most of the moisture before it gets into the bag (unless it starts raining inside the box).
If you squeeze the air out of the zip lock or use a vacuum zip lock, you most likely wouldn't need the silica gel. However, if you do put one in the safe deposit box, it will remove moisture from the air that circulates into the SDBox. The silica gel will not remove sulfides or other environmental damaging gases, which your capsules, intercepts and zip lock bag will limit, so keep that part for sure.If toning ever does occur, change out the intercept box and zip lock. Jim
Putting it in a sealed container (like a ziplock or tupperware) will greatly enahnce the life of silica (i.e. the amount of time until it needs to be recharged). In my safety deposit box, silica needs to be recharged every few months, but if in a sealed container, it can go years.
My primary concern is the moisture trapped inside the 2x2 box before I put it inside the ziploc bag. I live in a very humid city.
Then a couple of days before putting the box in the SDBox, put all of it and a silica gel pack in a zip lock and seal it. Then remove the Silica gel and reseal the zip lock and put it into the SDBox. Unless you have fog in your house, the 30 seconds to do this will allow almost no moisture in, and the (then) dehydrated paper products of the box will bind any water molecules. IMO, Jim
BTW,Can I use compressed air on silver coins? They also have some lint from the cotton gloves I was wearing?
Best choice would be to put a smaller silica gel pack inside the ziplock. The 40 gram pack will be trying to dry out the air inside the SDB, but since that air keeps changing the pack needs to be recharged frequently (And it doesn't do anything for the humidity inside the ziplock.). Inside the ziplock you have what is called a micro-environment that has a much smaller amount of air and moisture which the smaller gel pack can easily take care of, and since the outside air can't get into the micro-environment the pack holds onto the moisture and can go a LONG LONG time before it needs to be changed. As leadfoot said, probably years if you don't open the ziplock. If everything in the box are inside of ziplocks, each with a small silica gel pack or two inside, it would probably work better than having several large contained inside the box itself.
