Does anybody have a good place to buy used coin folders? I'm looking for older ones that are hard to find (3 cent, 5 cent and 2 cent shield, and others)
Well.... When we discovered those old cardboard folders were turning our coins, most of us disposed of those old folders in favor of the Dansco's. I still have a couple that take me back to my teenage coin crazy days, but over the course of fifty years they have absolutely turned a number of my coins... Good luck in your search, but I would sure go the Dansco route these days.
Thanks for letting me know. My son is the one that collects coins. He currently has 42 whitman and whitman-style folders. Is there anything that could be done to modify them (putting plastic sheets on top of the coins) to help protect them?
Welcome to CT. The only thing that helps is getting the coins into as Dansco. The Whitman’s folders along with others are fine for lower grade circulation coins but not higher grade coins. Just being in contact with the cardboard is all it takes to damage the coin. I’ve used them for years snd never had a problem but I’ve seen coins in a Whitman’s they was shiny on the top and the reverse was dark brown from the folder.
Not really. There are chemicals that outgas from the cardboard that causes coins to tone in very unappealing ways. Like @Collecting Nut says, if the coins are average grade coins... No harm, no foul really. But if you have any heirloom coins, I sure wouldn't store them in a Whitman folder long term. If I were home I would show you a photo of my Mercury dime book that I began assembling in the 1970's. I was a kid and the dimes are quite humble but they were clean dimes when they went in that book. Now 70% of those dimes have a hideous black toning creeping in from all around. But we are talking about dimes that have been in that cardboard book since the 1970's. You can clearly tell the few higher value dimes that I was only able to afford this last ten years or so. They are the only silver coins in the book.
I know a place where I get used coin folders, but it's useless to you if you live far away from it. The Archives in Lansdale, PA has a big shelf of old Whitman and other folders. I even found a vintage Coin and Currency folder for my Barber Halves.
