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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Brocster, post: 49714, member: 2744&quot;]Warmest Sunday greetings, fellow forumites (or maybe it should be &quot;fellow Coin Talkers&quot;??)! <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>First off, let me say how very thankful I am for all the wonderful information I have found here on this forum.&nbsp; The individuals who contribute to this site are an amazingly valuable resource -- and, from everything I can tell, also just a great bunch of folks! -- and I am sincerely grateful to you all!!</p><p><br /></p><p>I have recently gotten back into coin collecting after maaaaaaany years and have thus been reading through the posts on this and other forums in an attempt to &quot;get a handle&quot; on the hobby (so to speak).&nbsp; I have &quot;accumulated&quot; a number of questions over the past few months and would appreciate whatever input any of you might be willing to provide.&nbsp; (If any of my questions have already been asked/answered elsewhere, please let me know.&nbsp; I tried several forum searches, but I may have inadvertently missed or overlooked some posts.)&nbsp; Anyway, here goes (<span style="color: Red">Warning!</span> This post is a long one&nbsp; <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie3" alt=":(" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />):</p><p><br /></p><p>1) I decided to try to assemble a collection of the various denominations cent through quarter (for now) from bank rolls of coins and whatever I find in my change.&nbsp; Most of the coins I have found (especially the pre-1980s dates) are already well circulated (scratched, dinged, spotted, etc.), so I&#039;m not worried about trying to keep them in some sort of &quot;pristine&quot; state.&nbsp; That said, though, I <u>do</u> &quot;upgrade&quot; my collection whenever I find a nicer example, so I <u>am</u> concerned with providing at least some amount of protection for my little guys. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />&nbsp; Based on what I&#039;ve found/read, it appears that there are three main options as far as albums are concerned:</p><p><br /></p><ul> <li><br /> <blockquote><p>[*]Harris- or Whitman-type folders: You use &quot;light pressure&quot; (i.e., your entire body weight and/or a sledge hammer) to push a coin into its appropriately labelled slot.&nbsp; You can only see the side of the coin that is facing up, and getting the coin out (to exchange it for a nicer looking example) isn&#039;t necessarily an easy task... without destroying the folder. </p></blockquote> <br /> <blockquote><p>[*]Dansco- or Whitman-type albums: You slide back the acetate pane and &quot;gently press&quot; the coin into its proper slot, trying not to press too much or too little.&nbsp; When finished, you slide the plastic pane back, hoping not to scratch the surface of the coin.&nbsp; Due to the plastic covering, you can see <u>both</u> the obverse and reverse of every coin -- a definite plus.&nbsp; Removing coins isn&#039;t all too difficult, but coins can sometimes fall into the space intended for the plastic panes, thereby making it an &quot;enjoyable&quot; game to get the coin out of the album.</p></blockquote> <br /> <blockquote><p>[*]Three-ring binders: You purchase sheets of flip- or 2x2-sized &quot;pocket pages&quot; (Sorry, I&#039;m not sure what to call them exactly.) -- usually 20 square &quot;pockets&quot; per page.&nbsp; You then take your coin, already nicely sealed in its own 2x2 or flip, and slide it into a pocket.&nbsp; You can see both sides of the coin, but you&#039;re now looking through two layers of some type of plastic (from the 2x2 or flip and then from the pocket itself).&nbsp; There aren&#039;t any pre-labelled slots (which, I guess, could be viewed as either a plus or a minus), so you would have to use adhesive or paper labels to identify the various coins... if you want.&nbsp; Coin removal isn&#039;t difficult.</p></blockquote> </li> </ul><p><br /></p><p>So, are there any other basic folder/album types that I haven&#039;t listed?&nbsp; The reason I&#039;m asking is that I&#039;m looking for some kind of hybrid -- something that&#039;s relatively inexpensive (like the Harris folders) but that allows you to see both sides of the coins (like the Dansco albums) without having to put each coin in a flip or 2x2.&nbsp; I had thought about just using the &quot;pocket pages&quot; alone -- sticking the coins directly into the pockets, without a flip or 2x2 -- but all the ones I&#039;ve seen have a hole at the bottom of each pocket, so the smaller coins (cents, dimes) might fall out.&nbsp; Any folder/album ideas???&nbsp; As I mentioned earlier, I&#039;m not dealing with any uncirculated or even AU coins.&nbsp; I just want a way of being able to see what I have (and what&#039;s still missing) without spending a fortune.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>2) Related to #1 above, I have read here and elsewhere that ALL paper-based products will cause coins to tone due to the sulphur content.&nbsp; If I put nice bright RD Lincoln cents into a Harris folder, is there any way to know what they&#039;ll come out looking like?&nbsp; Are we talking ugly grays and greens... or nice purples and reds?&nbsp; I assume that either type of toning won&#039;t occur overnight, but would it be okay to leave the cents there for, say, a year or two without doing too much damage?&nbsp; I honestly have no idea what to expect from folders or albums, both in terms of type of toning and length of time before anything noticeable appears.&nbsp; I understand, though, that, unless the coins are sealed in a vacuum, they will tone through exposure to the air... so I&#039;m not looking for some 100% guaranteed solution (since I couldn&#039;t afford any type of Intercept Shield album or whatever).</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>3) For the few nicer coins that I have, I am looking to get some of the &quot;Air-Tite&quot; holders.&nbsp; They come in two varieties -- &quot;direct-fit&quot; and &quot;ring-type&quot;.&nbsp; Is there a benefit to either type (aside from the possibility of adding a colored ring)?&nbsp; With the ring-type holders, how would you go about inserting a proof coin??&nbsp; It would seem that some sort of downward pressure would need to be applied to push the coin into the ring... and wouldn&#039;t that end up scratching the coin&#039;s surface?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>4) Another coin storage question.&nbsp; I&#039;ve read everywhere about the evils of PVC.&nbsp; Is there any way to tell if any of the Ziploc-type bags or the Tupperware-type plastic containers are made with PVC?&nbsp; I wasn&#039;t sure what to do with the various coins that I have (they are all in either a flip or a 2x2), so I just put them in a Ziploc bag.&nbsp; I was also thinking about storing my mint and proof sets in larger plastic containers (like the Tupperware or Rubbermaid kind).&nbsp; Could there be any problems with either of those storage options?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>5) One last coin storage question.&nbsp; I have also read that, when coins are sealed in a container (like the types mentioned in #4 above), humidity can become a potential concern.&nbsp; I was thus looking at the various desiccant possibilities.&nbsp; Any thoughts?&nbsp; Silica gel vs. clay??&nbsp; The small 40g size seems like it would be good for a larger plastic bin/container, and I like the fact that you can &quot;recharge&quot; it when necessary (as opposed to the smaller packets that you just throw out).&nbsp; Any advice or input on what might be helpful (and whether the desiccant is simply &quot;overkill&quot;/unnecessary... assuming I&#039;m not living in the tropics)?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>6) Finally -- yep, this is my last question (for now, at least <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />) -- I was wondering if anyone can clarify the exact meaning of the verb &quot;to make&quot; when used to speak about coins submitted for grading.&nbsp; Here are some examples -- all taken from <a href="http://forums.collectors.com/messageview.cfm?catid=26&amp;threadid=389917" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://forums.collectors.com/messageview.cfm?catid=26&amp;threadid=389917" rel="nofollow">this thread</a>, if you want to see them in context:</p><p><br /></p><p>- One poster shows off a 1967 SMS JFK half.&nbsp; The next one replies, &quot;It used to annoy me that you <b><span style="color: Blue">made</span></b> one of those... until I <b><span style="color: Blue">made</span></b> three.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>- Then the reply to the above statement: &quot;Yes, but you can never take this away, Russ: I <b><span style="color: Blue">made</span></b> one before you did!&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>- &quot;...I also <b><span style="color: Blue">made</span></b> a 1967 SMS DCAM Jeff on the same submission...&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>I understand that they&#039;re talking about receiving a submitted coin back with a high grade (or they obviously wouldn&#039;t be so proud of their submission).&nbsp; But I still don&#039;t get the <u>choice</u> of verb in this case (and I&#039;ve seen it in this same type of context numerous times).&nbsp; By saying that I &quot;made&quot; a certain coin/grade, does that mean that I found the coin raw and, having recognized with my wealth of knowledge and experience that this is an amazing (or amazingly rare?) coin, submitted it for grading?&nbsp; I mean, my impression is that these individuals would <u>not</u> use the verb &quot;to make&quot; for a graded coin that they <b>purchased</b>, correct?&nbsp; So there has to be some aspect of <u>finding</u> the coin (in an ungraded state?) and then submitting it for grading.&nbsp; Would it thus be possible to say &quot;I made a 1967 VF-35&quot; (for some given coin), or does that phrase only apply to &quot;top pop&quot; coins??&nbsp; Just curious.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Well, if you&#039;ve managed to read this far, then you truly deserve my deepest gratitude!!!!&nbsp; <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />&nbsp; <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />&nbsp; <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />&nbsp; I apologize for such a lengthy post.&nbsp; I will do my best to keep future posts shorter (but, as you have probably already guessed, I&#039;m kind of a wordy guy).</p><p><br /></p><p>Thanks for whatever input you can provide!</p><p><br /></p><p>Best wishes for a relaxing Sunday evening. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>- Andrew[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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