A much-awaited package arrived today with a couple of new medals for my collection. The new additions are relatively large (i.e., 56 mm & 63 mm) and very high relief. I usually store all of my raw stuff in SaFlips, but these medals are too large for even the 2.5x2.5 flips I have. What other safe storage options would you recommend? @yarm I am particularly interested in whatever input you might have.
This is something that I have an interest in as well. I have ordered in the past some 4"x4" flips as well but they just don't satisfy my needs for protection. They just feel cheap. https://www.wizardcoinsupply.com/product/frame-a-coin-flips-4x4.html I have also ordered them directly from Abafil but I am pretty sure that those have PVC in them. However, they are more sturdy. Some of my medals exceed the size of these as well. I have considered contacting the folks at Capital but I have a feeling that anything "custom" from them is going to be more than what I want to spend.
I use the FAC 4"x4" flips, too, only because they are the only one I could find that claims to be PVC-free. Even so, I still check all of the medals that I have housed in them on a regular basis to ensure that nothing goes wrong. For me, Capital Plastics would not be an alternative because of the expense. At present, I have 41 medals ranging in 19 different sizes from 53mm to 86mm. I also have about 400 medals that range in size from 28mm to 50mm. Nope! Capital Plastics would be out of the question for me.
An alternative for some smaller ones. I kind of like the Quadrum XL holder from Lighthouse. They go up to 58mm. They don't work on high relief medals though. The cheapskate in me hates that you have to buy them in a box of 5. They only work out to about $1 each though so it really isn't a big expense. Another thing to consider is that there really isn't any place to put any information on the holder. I usually write something on a piece of paper and place it with the holder in a small ziplock bag. see here https://www.wizardcoinsupply.com/images/products/26382.jpg
You're right about the Quadrum XL! Without thinking, I tried one on a high relief French medal, and it cracked the face all the way across. Besides, I don't want to spend $400+ when they don't have all the sizes I would need, and I'd have to buy each size in packs of 5. For writing information, I found that I could use lined 5"x8" index cards. I can get the packages from Office Depot, and they will cut them in half (4"x5") for free. Then, all I have to do is trim the long side to fit in the 4"x4" flips.
I had thought about Air-Tite holders, but I assumed they would have the same issue described with the Quadrum XL holders. Both of the new medals are very high relief, so I think finding a holder along those lines for them is essentially a no go. I had no idea that 4x4 flips were made. @Chris B thank you for the link. I tried searching their website last night for something like this, but I could not get anything to load. For now, I will order some of the FAC flips and keep an eye on them to make sure everything goes smoothly. Thanks again for all of the help!
The Air-Tite Y63 is ~5.5mm deep. That's quite generous in terms of high relief. If some of the relief areas of your medals extend above the rims (i.e., not well protected by the design), then you may have a hard time finding anything that doesn't require some of the design to rest on the plastic surface when stored. I haven't seen @yarm yet today, but I believe he uses Air-Tites for some of his larger medals (56 and 63mm). The Air-Tite Z5 and Z10 are both 76.8mm inside diameter, but with different depths (Z5=3.84mm depth, Z10=7.26mm depth). So, you do have some options for particularly large and high relief medals.
The Lighthouse Caps XL 29-76 have an inside height of 6.3mm while Lighthouse Caps XL 53-101 have an inside height of 14.8mm. Medals on the low end of the stated size range are dwarfed by the larger holder. Usually available on Ebay (but not cheap).
Admittedly, I am not as familiar with the Air-Tite holders, so I will have to look into all of this and see which will work best for me. Thank you for the information @brg5658 and @yarm. Of the two, I think the 56mm medal will be the most cumbersome to store. The rims are 4mm thick, but the highest parts of the design are just north of 6mm.
