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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;marid3, post: 1362413, member: 35968&quot;]Coin Collection Storage – Part 2</p><p>After a home-brew accident (see post Coin Collection Storage – Part 1) I had to completely rebuild the storage for my collection. I decided albums would play a key role, and decided to consider them all.&nbsp; Here are my notes – I hope they’re helpful if you’re considering albums.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><u>Albums considered/pre-purchase thoughts:</u></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Dansco – proclaimed as the ‘best’ and the ‘benchmark’.&nbsp; Seemed a bit expensive, but had an extensive inventory – an album for almost everything.&nbsp; Good internet resources (pics, specs).&nbsp; Nice, timeless brown.&nbsp; Definitely try.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Intercept – proclaimed as ‘museum quality’ and even more expensive than Dansco.&nbsp; Limited retailers, online information (few pics, specs) and not that deep of an inventory.&nbsp; Classic banker green – nice. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Littleton – I do not like the mail-order company, so assumed the albums would be lower quality – something to send to schmucks.&nbsp; Only album with binders – all others are posts.&nbsp; About the same price as Dansco, all things considered.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Whitman – because the cheap folders are so prolific, I thought of these as the Yugo of albums.&nbsp; The blue color isn’t nearly as classic and timeless as the Dansco or Intercept.&nbsp; The price was a shocker – more than the others?</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><u>Post-purchase review:</u>&nbsp; note, I purchased these slowly over months, from about 5 different retailers, making my sample and evaluation a little more &#039;valid&#039; statistically speaking.&nbsp; </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Dansco – nice brown, but leatherette, not leather.&nbsp; The newer Danscos (my dad has an older one) are definitely cheaper than the older ones.&nbsp; The shipping was good, and they’re relatively easy to use.&nbsp; No thumb notches for the plastic slips, so getting that out requires a fingerprint, then cleaning of the slip.&nbsp; Posts make turning pages easy, but make removing pages difficult.&nbsp; Semi-rigid pages are okay.&nbsp; They look like a book on the bookshelf - a pro and con.&nbsp; I have a lot of these now, by coincidence mostly, as I like to have the same album for a given denomination.&nbsp; The biggest problem is the ‘hair’ or the paper shavings from the holes.&nbsp; It’s difficult to remove, being small and due to static, and wiping the holes creates more.&nbsp; Given the reason to have an album is to display, this excessive ‘hair’ is a problem for me.&nbsp; (FYI, older albums didn’t have this problem) B- (ok, but won’t recommend)</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Intercept – I have two, purchased at different retailers.&nbsp; As this was the most stately looking, I purchased these for my dollars.&nbsp; I thought the green pages would contrast more with silver coins, but don’t really offer any advantage over Dansco.&nbsp; The cost is a bit more, but they come with a slipcover, and when you add that to the Dansco, the price is comparable.&nbsp; But if you don’t want the slipcase, they’re more.&nbsp; The big problem with these is the plastic slips for the coins – they were shipped scratched, and seemed to scratch more just inserting/removing them.&nbsp; They are flimsy and as a result are hard to use.&nbsp; If you think about it, the plastic is the whole album – the reason you can see the front and back and how you access our coins.&nbsp; The scratches are a real problem, because they make my Proofs look like VG circulated coins.&nbsp; This is on top of some ‘hair’ – not as bad as the Dansco, but enough.&nbsp; D (won’t buy, caution against)</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Littleton – the only one with a 3-ring binder, versus posts.&nbsp; And the only one with truly rigid pages.&nbsp; And no ‘hair’.&nbsp; The green albums look better on the shelf than I thought – nicer than the Intercept, and the light pages aren’t as bad as I thought – my nickels look great!&nbsp; Flipping the pages is a pain, as the rigid pages get snagged on the binders when turning – but I compensate by removing the pages easily.&nbsp; This makes inserting coins easy, and showing friends easy.&nbsp; I like these way more than I thought I would.&nbsp; Given that my goal is to upgrade and display, these do a great job.&nbsp; Surprise:&nbsp; A- (recommend, will buy again)</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Whitman – the most expensive of the bunch.&nbsp; Really?&nbsp; Yes.&nbsp; Worth it?&nbsp; Yes?&nbsp; The blue I thought would look cheap on the shelf looks better than the brown or green.&nbsp; The blue pages contrast better than the white, green or brown.&nbsp; The pages turn easily, and removing the slips is easy with thumb-notches (no smudges, less wear from wiping.&nbsp; Almost no ‘hair’, and no scratches on the (relatively) sturdy plastic slips.&nbsp; I purchased these last, and wish I would have purchased them first.&nbsp; One problem, the site says the materials are “soil resistant” but that doesn’t mean archival safe (free of PVC and chemicals in the paper which interact).&nbsp; I couldn’t find anything on their website.&nbsp; </p><ul> <li>Without confirmation of archival quality materials: D (won’t buy, won’t recommend, caution against)</li> <li>With confirmation of archival quality materials: A (highly recommend, will buy again)</li> </ul><p>I’d love to hear your comments, and to know if anyone can confirm the materials in Whitman albums. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>I hope you find this helpful, as it’s cost me hundreds. I wish someone had posted this before I purchased.&nbsp; </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Happy coin collecting![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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