Storing coins in liquid nitrogen.

Most coins will tone eventually, it's fate is sealed like death.

Oxygen reacts with metals, that's a granted.

Storing coins in water is bad, because water reacts with metal.

However, I wonder what effect there would be storing coins in liquid nitrogen?

Liquid nitrogen would prevent oxygen from tarnishing the coins, but I'm not sure what reaction there would be with nitrogen.

I have no plan of doing this, but was just curious.

 

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My guess is the metal would be messed up from the extreme cold. Items can be shattered after being in liquid nitrogen.

 

That's true, there would have to be some kind of system to prevent rapid warm-up.

The reason I asked this question, I wonder if there is a way to keep a coin preserved perfectly for 1,000 years?

 

What about the rapid freezing???

 

Nitrogen will not react with metals, but there is absolutely no utility in storing coins in liquid nitrogen since you would scarcely ever be able to look at them "in hand" and you would need to continuously replenish the cryogenic container with more liquid nitrogen. This would get mighty expensive.

 

Do you think all the MS coins that exist now, will be toned/tarnished 1000 years from now?

I wonder what storage methods were used on some of the copper I've seen from the 1700s that is still mint red?

You would think the oxygen content of the air would cause it to darken, much like copper pipes in an old house have turned brown for exposure to air.

 

Coins that are exposed to relatively small amounts of air and that are stored in relatively dry environments will tone substantially more slowly than coins stored in other conditions or than the copper pipes in a home. The most "convenient" method for near impervious indefinite storage would likely be to drop a coin into molten glass and keep the blob.

 

Huh? Glass melts at around 1500c, copper melts at 1,085c.

 

Wouldn't that cause surface damage? Molten glass..

 

Storing coins in liquid nitrogen...talk about cold, hard cash. TC

 

Witch, February, Brass Monkey ....

 

Different glass compositions melt at different temperatures.

 

Wouldn't it make a lot more sense to store them in just a Nitrogen gas environment? In that case you would just need an air tight "humidor" if you will that pumps in the nitrogen and out the oxygen as well as regulating the temp I would imagine. It would be cheaper than liquid nitrogen almost assuredly, and coins could be removed at any time to be examined and then replaced with no harm to the coin.

 

^ wishful thinking, there is ALWAYS a way to harm coins

 

Yes, 1400° to 1700°. However, there is a much easier/better solution. Store them in a vacuum. There are lots of ways to maintain vacuums.

 

They'll get eaten by Ted Williams' head.

 

Glass can have a melting or transition temperature lower than 1,000C.

 

Why not just shoot them all into space for safe keeping...I mean since we're on the subject of impractical and unrealistic storage methods.

 

I like this idea, but now we have to make certain they don't go into Earth orbit and then burn up upon re-entry. Perhaps they should be aimed to the outer edges of the solar system?

 

At one time I had a lucite paperweight with all denominations of 1964 coins inside. It seems that might be a good solution until you have to break them out. Nearly all of mine were blast white except for the quarter which had become purple, perhaps because of some residue that did react with the metal over time. Look on eBay, you'll see others.......just thought I'd throw out another impractical storage idea