I know nothing about coin collecting, but my father-in-law has been collecting proof sets of US coins since the mid-1970s, and he periodically sends big chunks of his collection to us. They were stored in various boxes in our basement, and I am sorry to say that not all the boxes were evacuated in our frantic rush to save our possessions from quickly-rising flood waters. They were under water for over a week -- and I'm also sorry to say that we weren't immediately able to attend to them as we tried to salvage the stuff that got left behind. So now the cardboard sleeves have all fused to each other and the paper inserts are mushy, so those are pretty much gone. But most of the coins still look okay. Some of the plastic cases have no apparent moisture in them. Some have some faint condensation in them (those ones are out in the sun right now to see if that will dry them out without opening them). But some got considerable water seepage, and the coins are starting to discolor. Should I open those? And once they're open, what should I do? What's my best case scenario in terms of the worth of the coins, and what's the worst?
Most likely if the coins have developed the green or black rings around the outside... they are shot. If they got wet at all I'd remove the coins from the inserts because this will corrode the clad coins pretty easily... If they got a little wet I'd still remove the coins and see if the inserts can't be dried separately.
If it were me... Any of the cases that werent watered down and have condensation in them...I would lay them out in a room and turn on a good de-humidifier. For all the ones they were soaked, break them all out. Dip the coins in acetone and rinse with distilled water. Then store them properly in 2x2 flips or whatever. Sorry about your flood, that is terrible news. Good luck. On a side note, not spefically for your situation: Whenever my phone or small electronics gets wet, I put it in a bag of rice for a day. The rice draws out the moisture. My andriod was left in a thunderstorm on my picnic table. Worked perfect.
I agree. Any moisture at all with in the plastic cases will literally destroy the coins within. I would imagine a quick rinse in regular water followed with a rinse in distilled water and then a final rinse in 91% Alcohol would clean off any unwanted contaminents. The coins would then have to be packaged up in 2x2's for sale. Individually, not a whole lot would be received so you might want to consider selling them as a group to minimize the amount of handling time. After that, if you still want a set you'll probably just have to buy another one. Question, are old Military Ammunition cases water tight and would they be a good storage media for areas that experience flooding?
Modern proof coinage is extremely susceptible to environmental damage when improperly stored, worst case scenario would be totally immersed on flood water...sorry to hear this. The coins that got wet and are turning are a lost cause to a collector of proof coins, they are probably permanently damaged beyond conservation. The lenses that have moisture will also be a lost cause, even if you have them out in the sun, the humidity contained inside has already effected the surfaces of the coin and in time will probably damage the surfaces. The only hope I see are lenses that appear to be sealed against the waters, the COA (Certificates of Authenticity) and the boxes are no real big deal, get rid any damaged ones, any mildew on any paper product must be removed. I'm not saying you have a total loss, but anytime a proof set is near that amount of moisture, that can only mean bad things in the future of those coins. Save as many as possible, even going so far as to break the coins out and put them in coin flips or stapled 2X2's. Good luck and sorry this had to happen.
Most of the Proof Sets and Mint Sets you speak of can be purchased for $10 or less each, and that's for new condition. Even those that are more expensive are not much more expensive. So value wise, you don't have much best case. Worst case - face value, unless you have some of the silver sets from '90s and later. And for those, melt will be your best case.
If you dry the coins with a towel, instead of the options above, DO NOT RUB THE COINS. Instead find a soft towel(not paper) preferably without the bristley stuff, and pat the coins dry
I would immediately remove from the cases, and immerse in distilled water. They can sit in the water indefinitely while you uncase the rest. Once you are done, take them out of the water and place on soft cotton. Put another piece of soft cotton on top and leave alone. You are only trying to get the cotton to soak up water, you do not want to rub under any circumstance. When dry, put in 2x2's. Trust me, I have been through it, the packaging is ruined. Do not try to save it, as it will destroy the coins. There are plenty of people who want the individual proofs, so you are really not out.
Thanks for the info, everyone. I feel bad about this -- I had no idea they were so vulnerable to water (not that I would have had time to do anything differently had I known, but I could have tried...). Least I'm not the one who has to explain this to the FIL....
Just to make a point; the methods above which recommend using distilled water mean just that - distilled water - which is NOT the same as bottled water. This point is obvious to many, but some people in my experience don't know the difference.
I'm not sure exactly how many sets we're talking about here, but can you claim them under your flood insurance? If we're talking about a considerable number of sets, it may be worth your time to claim them and buy new ones?
Absoultely. Distilled water has no minerals or calcium in it and as such will not spot your coins. As a parent, one of my childrens science project was to demonstrate that distilled water does not conduct electricity. I was surprised to find out that its true. Water is a terrible conductor but add a bunch of minerals (which are not present in distilled water) and it's just like wire. When rinsing coins I always follow with a bath of alcohol as the alcohol will evaporate more quickly off the coins surface during the "pat dry" operation. I also make a point of rolling the reeded edges across the paper to try and eliminate any moisture left between the reeding. Rubbing Silver and Copper Proofs is a no no but copper nickel clad proof coins are much more forgiving of any little "handling errors" in the drying process.
