I have filled up my EW Harris quarter albums for 1999-2004. This weekend I went and picked up the albums for 2005-2009. As George as my witness, I could not get any quarters into those little holes. I tried six different albums. I double checked to make sure that I was using quarters, not half dollars. I also double checked to make sure that I had the album for the 50 state quarters, not the 50 state dimes. I even got to the point where I was using the handle of a screw driver to push them in. I all but used a hammer. I know sometimes you have to put them in at an angle. Couldn't do it. I know they are supposed to fit snuggly, but I thought you were supposed to be able to put the quarter in the hole. Has anyone else had this problem?
LOL yes I had just filled a cheaper Whitman Quarter (99 -present) album for a gift to my nephew. I used a rubber mallet to pound a roll of nickels into some wadded up cloth ,to dampen the blow. If there is an easier way I would like to know Luckily, I have not added any of my collections to albums as of yet. I think I will go with the Shield Intercept AAlbums for my Peace , Morgan,and Washington silver collections
I've had that problem when I was a kid and found that if you really have to use one of those dumb albums the best thing to do is to take a coin that you don't like and rub it firmly around the edge of the slot. This will make it a slight bit easier to insert the actually coin you want and yes your correct that it has to go in on an angle first. I say use a coin you don't like to make the hole larger because that also messes up the coin. Use a coin with a ribbed edge because that works better. HOWEVER, if you really want to collect the coin as a hobby and not as a novelty, don't use those type of albums. Pushing them into that album will help distroy the coin and the back will eventually be a discolored mess also. IF you want to just save the new quarters or nickels or whatever, try the Whitman Classic Albums. They have a web site like the rest of the world but cheaper at most coin stores. Get the one that is for the recent dates or get a blank one and add blank pages as needed. I've been adding pages to my albums until it becomes hard to close the covers. I"ve got 10 pages in my Lincoln Cent album to cover the years from 1909 to possibly 2050.
I find it much easier to insert coins into a Whitman album if you lay it on a carpet instead of a hard surface.
Everyone who uses this type of holder has this problem, so it's not just you. This is exactly why most people won't use such methods of collecting coins, and to tell the truth, I don't know any one who uses these any more.
My thumb took three weeks to stop hurting after putting coins into a Whitman Penny holder for my Grand daughter. I tried the carpet method, but when the penny finally went in - it went through the back side too. I finally resorted to using a ball point pen to go round and round while pressing outward. That worked. After I got them all in I noticed the holder had a mintage quanity for the 1931S printed at 866 million. I E-mailed Whitman and they thanked me for finding the error and sent me a free replacement holder. They were very professional and the pennys went into the new holder with ease, and it had the correct mintage quanity listed. They said the punch dies wear out causing the tight fit problem and have agreed to change the punches more often because of simular complaints. They suggested returning the tight holders to where you bought them. Great folks , they even E-mailed me after a few weeks to see if my problems was solved.
I DO us a hammer to put them in. No I don't hit them, I put a layer of paper over them and then use the face of the hammer head to apply pressure and force them into the hole. The thumb gives too much and it is too hard on the joints. The hammerhead doesn't give and forces the coins into the holes nicely.
Part of the reason the albums are diffacult is that they are compressed paper. If the retailer has had them for a while or they have been exposed to higher humidities the paper will expand. Since the hole for the coin doesn't restrict the expansion the paper prefers to expand in that direction. This is usually the reason that the brand new folders which come directally from Whitman are awesome but the ones from the local hobby shop require a jack hammer and an anvil to get the coins in. Man I hate compressed paper! If you come across a coin folder that doesn't work well I would suggest increasing the size of the hole by rotating a relatively strong object that has a smooth cylindrical end on it aroung the edge of the hole. The end of a ball point pen does work but the pen usually breaks before I am done. I have recently used a pin punch with about a 1/4 inch diameter. As long as their are no burs you should be able to rub the punch around the outside edge with out damaging the book. Hope this helps.
That is a very important point. I use Whitman folders as a method to save coins from pocket change. It's sort of a relaxing diversion. I would never store any coin worth much more than face value in this manner.
As a person that has been collecting coins for over 50 years it really hurts to hear people talking about using those push in type holders for coin collecting. If your doing it for a kid for the future you all may want to realize if the kid becomes a coin collector they will want to constantly improve the quality of each coin. Puting coins in and out of those type of albums will eventually distroy the album anyway. Enlarging the slots will eventually make the coins just fall out. I've gone through all this over the years and only wish an adult with some coin collecting smarts would have educated me in the proper handling of coins when I was a kid. Many of the silver coins from back then now have a permanent finger print on the face from pushing in with my thumb. It should be remebered that a thumb print constains acids and oils and dirt that will eventually ruin a coin. The Whitman Classic, Dansco and other companies make albums that are a little more expensive but have plastic on both sides of the coins, are easily inserted, usually can have pages added, protect the coin better and just as easily pruchased.
