Timely question. One of the options I've been considering too. I've been looking at cabinets but a bit worried by inflexibility as they seem to have uniform spaces. What are thoughts on small coins in large holes?
Thanks guys, I am just a bit concerned about wear on the surfaces of coins due to friction? Any idea? I think the materia they use is satin, its seems a bit rough on touch Can it damage coins? Leave traces , markes, hairlines, scratches? Thank you
I am looking at spaces up to 30 mm, but sems a bit tight even for denarii with 18mm, def can not put a ticket inside
I use lighthouse boxes. A longer review later but for now some quick points. 1. I use 30 compartment tray. They can hold a sestertius but not 2x2 flips. 2. I like the trays. Felt lining. I don't think rub would be a problem. Felt not really plush but adequate. 3. One came damaged with a crack on corner. They sent a replacement. Another crack in the same place! Quality control a bit of an issue. I just sighed and kept them both. Cracks were cosmetic only. More pix to follow.
Looks awesome and clothing, its a bit rough, no? I ordered one box, nice and neat, but dont know about surfaces, in your opinion there would be no damage, like lines or scratches after brushing the coin?
Let me just say I'm not an expert. And most of my collection is bronze. Perhaps I would have a concern if I were dealing with softer metals, such as gold. But I can't imagine felt would significantly affect a bronze coin for decades or perhaps even centuries. But I really should defer to other collectors who might have more experience with so-called "cabinet rub." But I'm keeping my bronze and silver coins in these trays, and I'm not worried about cabinet rub. If I should be, I hope others will let us know.
I will take a look at that Forum post later. I'll offer more thoughts tomorrow since I am limited on time today. But yes, it feels rougher than silk. But there's not much softer than silk. That's a pretty high bar. The felt in the trays feels better than the felt in most of the cheap plastic coin tray inserts you find for a few dollars. So while it is better felt, it is still felt. It's not silk or as soft as silk .
Lighthouse has a number of different tray configuration options, including a completely open tray and a variety tray in addition to trays of uniform squares or circles in various sizes.
Let me also add that I'm using the regular lighthouse stackable trays, not the Volterra series. I have no idea what materials may be involved in those wooden boxes and trays. I opted for the 30 square option even though they won't fit 2x2 flips in order to get more bang for the buck. These stackable clear plastic or acrylic trays run about $25 each plus shipping; ballpark $30 each, but you might be able to do a little better. I do have some smaller flips that fit my squares, but they are smaller than 2x2. And now that I look back at earlier posts, I see you're asking if the trays are lined with velvet. Maybe velvet is a more accurate description than felt. But if it's velvet, it's not especially plush or deep velvet. Still, I can't imagine significant damage to coins from this surface.
Here are some further thoughts about my Lightbox hard plastic or acrylic coin tray. Again, these are different from the wooden Voterra wooden trays. Several months ago, I had intended to upload a full YouTube review of these boxes since I hadn’t seen anything about them of consequence on YouTube. It was going to be a very positive review. So I shot some cell phone video, and just when I was about to splice the video together, I noticed a small crack in the front of one box. It was only cosmetic and did not affect the functionality of the box, but for a $25-30 new case, I wanted one without blemish. “Fine,” I said. This will give me an opportunity to comment on customer service since I had ordered from Lighthouse directly. So I emailed customer service seeking a replacement box, and to their credit, they got one out right away. No questions asked. And they even told me I could keep the original cracked box. So when I opened up the replacement box, guess what? A crack, exactly in the same place as the original box: in the front of the outer case of the box. So then I felt really weird. I didn’t think I could give these a ringing YouTube endorsement since I had received two damaged boxes in a row. But I felt churlish going on YouTube and negatively commenting on a box they had sent me for free. So I just decided to scrap the review altogether. But in this more targeted forum, I don’t mind sharing pros and cons. The con, of course, is that there seems to be some quality control issues regarding the cracking of the plastic or acrylic outer case. The pros are many. Little recessed holes at the top and rubber feet on the bottom allow for stable stacking. The boxes are attractive. Customer service is responsive. Lots to like about these boxes. Even with my mixed experience, I will be buying more. A few FAQs, or at least questions I had. Even goofy questions. Q. Can these boxes be tilted up or carried on their sides and still have the coins stay in their squares? A. Unless you have your coins in flips, no. I experimented with pennies. They slid around all over the place. The case does not “seal” the square. So these boxes must be transported horizontally. Q. How deep is each square? A. The trays slightly dip in the center. I stacked 5 U.S. cents in the bottom center square and was able to clear the case. The 6th cent caught the top. On the edges, only 4 cents could clear. But few ancient coins are thicker than 4 stacked cents. I put in a sestertius with no problem. I do have a little video that I did not delete from my aborted review. Here are links to two brief clips: https://www.dropbox.com/s/keh0ay96onyj7w7/LIGHTHOUSE REV CLIP 1.mov?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/yl4ha1z1uhpbbxj/LIGHTHOUSE REV CLIP 2.mov?dl=0 If you have any questions you think I could answer, let me know. Again, my comments are only for the 30-square option. Other trays may have slightly different specifications.
Thank you, this is very very helpful, i got one myself, box with 3 trays- looks nice, pretty deep squares, a bit if sliding as well, but not much, on the box its says: "velvety soft lining for the coins, box- mahogany wood grain finish"
