Coin storage?

I didn't know you'd visited - and are almost one of us - cool!

ATB,
Aidan.

 

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A bit late to the party, but this is how I store my coins:

Leuchtturm trays 33x33mm, with Leuchtturm quadrum mini (33x33 mm; internal diameter ranging from 10mm - 30 or so. Most of my coins are rather small.)

 

Am I seeing a pretty impressive collection of sceattas on the top row? Not bad!

 

@Roerbakmix I asked a similar question earlier in the thread but I am interested in additional opinions on the Quadrum holders. Are the coins easy to get in and out? Do you buy them with pre-cut foam or uncut foam that you cut yourself? Do you use the "universal insert" at all?

 

Yes, it’s rather easy: one of the corners has a small indentation, allowing it to be opened with your fingernail. I use the precut version - the quadrum mini has no uncut version (in contrast to the larger quadrum 50x50mm).
In the Netherlands, they cost around the €5 per 10 pieces (So 0,50 each); The 50x50 are around €7 per 10. The tray is €19 or so.

 

I like the quadrums. They are too thin for thicker coins. I did find some extra deep capsules. For my large Titus sestertius I use half a quadrum and pack the sides. Not pretty but it protects the coin.

 

I have been reading about the effects different plastics may have on a coin. Do your 2x2 flips have plastic see-through underneath the cardboard 2x2 flips and if so, what plastic are you using.
Also, do you store your coins in a safe with a dehumidifying apparatus?

 

I make my own using a high quality archival cardstock and a hole punch of the appropriate size. You'll also want an archival ink pen or just a pencil when writing them to be safe. The hole punches are about $10 or so each and the cardstock was about $5 for a pack of 50 sheets. I just keep a couple ziplock bags corresponding to my tray sizes on my desk so I always have them at hand. Remind me next time we see each other and I can make you a bag of them beforehand

 

This thread gave me many ideas on how to better store/display my coins.

I really loved the quadrums, but I wanted something that includes labels for adding some basic information for each coin. Luckily I discovered quickslabs which if I am not mistaken is by the same company that makes the quadrums. They are regular slabs that you can open again and again if you want to examine the coin in hand. Initially I wanted to display them in my antiques cabinet like I did before. So I got some cute little stands to allow them to stand upright. It looked like this:



One thing I didn't take into account is that my handwriting hasn't improved since the second grade. Still, they looked pretty neat. Problem is that I cannot fit many coins in that cabinet and they looked out of place outside it. Also, I really liked some of the wooden capsule/slab boxes mentioned in this thread, but I wanted something that would allow quick access and easy display. I found the following which has a glass lid and looks really fine. Also it comes with wall mountings to hang on the wall like a picture frame, but I will probably get a little stand to display it on my bookcase.



I am quite happy with the look. I managed to fit most of my coins in those slabs. Only 2 didn't make it, my Owl tet for being too thick and my Parion hemidrachm for having a very small diameter.

 

Thickness is always a problem. That's why I used those pliable display case things. In a Quadrum case.

 

It's a shame those holders aren't for individual sale. I thought they only came from Roma auction wins.

 

I just received this small cabinet. The way I got it configured, it will hold over 100 coins. I like that it fits on a shelf beside my computer, so my (current) favorite coins are always within arms reach.

 

Wow I really like that little cabinet, is there somewhere online you can get these?

 

Roma will supply those display things. I bought 65 from them, I might need to purchase more soon!

 

They are handmade by Alberto Zecchi in Italy. He has several diferent types.

https://www.albertozecchi.com/

 

At the risk of alienating my new friends whom I admire and respect, I need to say that I feel some of the responses to this comment and sentiment were overwrought. The original poster asked what people thought, and this comment was a simple response to that. It wasn't an insult or an attack. Furthermore, it was good advice: whether a coin is two thousand years old, or only only two, it's best to handle it by its edges, not by its faces.

The fact is that much of the ancient coinage in small-scale collections was dug up in the last two hundred years after being stored for two thousand years--give or take a few hundred--in extremely arid environments in which they were not exposed to moisture, oils, or physical wear through touching. Handling a coin by its faces exposes it to all three. If someone wants to handle a coin by its face, that's his or her right. But if others want to be more careful and handle their coins only by their rims, that's also their right.

As for touching coins, one person wants to slab, another wants to hold the actual coin between his or her fingers: as far as enjoyment of the hobby goes, one isn't better than the other. For some, touching their ancient coin is absolutely essential; for others, it isn't. To each, their own.

For myself, I'm very glad that my owl is in a slab. It gives me a certain amount of peace of mind, on multiple counts. But the next coins I buy, which will be 5-20% of the cost of my owl, and with far lower relief, will be unslabbed--and I'll be fine with that. In fact, I'll be at least very fine with that. ;-)

 

.....Beautifully made from what I can see from the photos and IMO the only way to savour your ancient coins...Nice purchase Victor... What was the postage cost?...Paul

@Nathan B......Sorry but if you have a coin in a slab most people are inadvertently or maybe intentionally thinking of the monetary value of the said coin now or in a future sale.....You have no physical contact and might just as well buy a 3D photo of the coin....This is just my opinion but not long ago I purchased my first Sestertius after years of handling Denarius and small bronzes .......It was a WOW factor when I held this big chunk in my hand, feeling the true weight and physical size. The same coin could well have been in a slab and would have looked pretty but thats about it!
I don't know if I'm explaining myself very well but I just feel I want to drive the car not look in the showroom....

 

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I've said before that a coin in a slab might as well be a hologram. It's no longer a coin; it's a commodity.

 

Hi Spaniard! To be honest, my coin was already slabbed when I bought it, but I am glad it was. In my case, I just feel very protective of my coin, which is not only the only ancient I have, but my most expensive coin by far, too. It's also in a high grade.

I am very proud to own this coin. Even in a holder, it transports me to the world of ancient Athens and beyond, and my imagination and memory can go among the many books (not nearly enough, but much more than most) that I have read from classical Greece. A 3-D photo would absolutely not do that at all for me, not least because the physical object would not be owned by me and held in my hand.

This is what I mean by each person having their own preference. For you, you need to touch your coin, and that is ok. For me, it's not necessary, and in the case of an expensive (for me!) high grade coin would actually impair my enjoyment due to worry. I actually think NGC has a nice balance with the use of their prongs in their ancients holders; this allows me to see most of the rim of the coin. I think it's the best balance of visibility and protection.

In a way, we are all curators and collections managers of our own collections. I actually once took a distance ed course in collections management many years ago. It was quite interesting. I also had the boyhood experience of going to my local coin shop and buying cheap silver 50 cent pieces (my favourite denomination of Canadian coins) with my allowance and paper route money. I promptly put them into soft plastic blue-cover albums.

You can guess what came next: after a decade or so of ownership, my coins were covered in green goo due to PVC contamination. When I emerged from adolescence, when I did not pay much attention to my coins, I was quite disappointed. But since I had bought them for bullion only as a kid (when silver was about $6 an ounce or so--I might not be quite right there), and since I sold them as a very young adult when silver was about $20 an ounce (I wish I had waited a few more years!), I was happy to realize a profit.

But I vowed never to let anything like that happen again.

I have also seen the damage that light can do to coins. A certain person I know used to work in a coin shop for several years. This coin shop had proof silver coins on display right under spotlights that were turned on for nine hours a day. Over a very long period of time, the display proof coins turned the colour of gold.

I also have a silver maple leaf coin that I keep almost as a pocket piece. I used to rub it a lot between my forefinger and thumb, and rub the sharp, serrated rim under my fingernails, for some unknown reason. Since this is a bullion coin, and a common one, I didn't mind doing this. Eventually, I did wear down the very highest points of the coin, and I certainly smoothed out some of the sharpness of the edges. It was sort of fun. But I would never do this with any other coin--one is enough!

in short, light, moisture, oils, acids, and so on are enemies of coins. The effects of handling a coin not by its edges will eventually cause some change to the coin's surface. Of course, with Ancients, there have already been many changes to a coin's surface before it even reaches us collectors: at the very least cleaning, perhaps harsh, and possibly also stripping, repatination, and even retooling, which is nowadays considered unethical and undesirable. But still: why make even more changes that will degrade the surface, if not now, then perhaps a decade or even a half century later when it is so easy to hold the coin by its edges? And if the coin is an expensive one in a higher grade, I personally prefer to protect it in a slab. This also has the virtue of taking some of the subjectivity out of the reselling experience later (though I do not ever intend to sell my owl. I have sold other graded and ungraded Canadian coins in the past).

Anyway, thanks for not attacking me! All the best to you. ;-)

 

Except that it is a coin, just one in a slab. And whether or not a coin is in a holder doesn't change whether or not it is a commodity. Any coin you buy for more than the value of its metal is a collectible commodity. When you pay $100 or $1000 for a few grams of silver, you are buying a commodity, just like any other. Furthermore, nobody here is going to take their denarius or their drachm down to Costco to buy a microwave or a coffee-maker with their "coin." (It would be funny if someone tried!)

Overall, I believe that there is too much dogmatism surrounding this issue. If someone likes slabbed coins, they are free to slab their coins, or buy ones that are already slabbed. If someone doesn't, they can buy unslabbed coins or crack them open. In other words, a coin in a slab for you is a horror, whereas for me, it's possibly a blessing. And I am glad that we are each happy, because that is the point of the hobby after all.