What is a best cheap coin holder?

i currently buy regular cardboard coin slabs but I seen ads in coin magazines about other coin holders. Is the cardboard holder the safest cheap holder?

 

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Technically, Doug is absolutely correct, but IMO, it depends on what you want to store. For my high grade, valuable raw coins, and ancients/medieval, I use the Saflips that don’t contain PVC. For cheap stuff like minor mint errors and common world coins (yes, I still save this stuff, even though it’s not particularly valuable), the cardboard 2x2s work fine. You still have to be concerned with issues Doug listed, but when storing lots of low value coins, I don’t want the holders to be more valuable than the coin.

I have low value coins in cardboard 2x2s that were given to me by an uncle 45 years ago and they look fine.

AVOID, the soft plastic flips. They contain PVC, which can react to form a nasty acid residue, that will damage the coin. Lots of dealers use these because they are cheap and generally OK for short term storage. If you ever buy a coin in one of these flips, always put it in something else

 

Also, the staples can be a danger, if you are not VERY careful!

 

That's why one of my collecting tools is channel locks.
I crimp ALL staples that I use on my 2x2's.

 

I'd use PVC-free flips in lieu of those cardboard flips.

It offers thicker plastic protection.

I wouldn't use staples on the plastic flips if you're going that route.

 

Things I like about cardboard 2x2s:

1. Cheap at about 3c each
2. You can put a lot of them in a box or album.
3. If not packed tightly, it's easy to flip through a box of them and see what's there.

Things I don't like about 2x2s:

1. Staples are dangerous. While assembling, one can bend funny and encroach on your coin or your stapler can hit the coin accidentally. After assembled, staples can hit other coins in 2x2s. When disassembling, if you peel them apart (the wrong way to open a 2x2), you have staple ends very close to the coin waiting to cause a scratch in the manner of every other staple-scratched coin you've seen.
2. The plastic bit isn't durable. A pinhole in the plastic film can cause toning spots from other 2x2s or debris that gets in.
3. Even when the staples are crimped, large coins rub against each other through the plastic.

For a little more money, about 25c each, you can get 2x2 Saflips, which are the PVC-free plastic flips. They can get brittle and crack if handled a lot, but there are no staples near your coins. There may be cheaper brands of PVC-free flips, as well, but probably no less than 15c each.

For about 50c a coin, you can use a combination of a flip and a Kointain. A Kointain is a mylar shell that fits your coin very snugly, making it safer to put into a flexible flip.

For about $1 each, you can get the Coin World slabs, which are the size and shape of PCGS slabs. Of course, if your coins are worth $1 each, this is overkill. Bulk starts becoming a drawback here.

 

I agree about the dangers of those staples scratching a coin. The first thing I do when I buy a coin in those cardboard flips is to remove it . The way I remove them is to use a wooden toothpick and pierce the Mylar, that way I avoid the staples.

 

And that is the correct way. Sometimes I use a pencil, but I almost always have a rose thorn on my desk, so I usually use that.

 

Couple of thoughts...Saflips are cheap...$0.25 compared to $0.03...so 8X is no big? Would you pay $136 for a run-of-the-mill American Silver Eagle...same differential. Staples...OK, don't staple. If I fold a cardboard 2x2 over a coin and slip it into a page that holds 2x2's, it won't open up or slip out and if I feel the overwhelming need to touch the coin...out it comes. As far as safety, I have seen some 2x2's that are so old the polyester (Mylar) is decomposing, and the coins are still fine.

 

Good info here.
I also don't like the staples, and crimp each staple down flat.
You can buy a stapler that does this for you, but I still use a nice small pair of needle nose pliers.

 

Staple, staple, staple, staple. Crimp, crimp, crimp, crimp, crimp, crimp, crimp, crimp.

I use dedicated, small pair of pliers (not needle nose) and crimp each side of the staple. Do it enough times and you get pretty quick. I do recommend the removal technique mentioned previously of breaking through the mylar window with something softer like a toothpick. Then again, I only use these for cheaper coins

 

For a coin worth 25c, it's big. For a coin worth $100, it's not. You have to take the value of the coin into consideration when determining cost-effective storage.

 

Agree, but where is the breaking point? I have LOTS of coins worth $10 or less.

 

I have about 6-7 binders of world coins in 2x2s. Most are the cheap, pick box variety that I accumulated over my years of collecting. Cardboard instead of saflips really is a significant cost difference.

The cost of the 20 pocket pages are another story

 

Another way to think about is it:
Today's cheap coins could be a very expensive coin is 20 or 30 years.
If you don't take care of it today it will still be a cheap coin in 30 years.

 

Nah. My cheap coins now were cheap coins when I got them 10, 20, 30, or 40 years ago. Being in a 2x2 or slab wouldn't make a difference. There is no reason to use saflips for dozens of different circulated post WWII Italian Lira and French Francs or a partial date set of circulated Geo V British half cents. They definitely aren't worth the cost expensive holders.

Heck, I have a hard time justifying the 20 pocket storage pages, but I enjoy looking at them occasionally and you can see a lot more in binders than you can thumbing through boxes looking at one at a time.

 

Don't put mint state coins in paper 2x2s. Circulated coins can go anywhere and the cheaper the better. Smash the staples always. It you leave even one staple unsmashed it will be attracted to the most expensive coin you have and do
the most damage possible to it. When you look at a dealers coins in paper flips and the staples are not smashed look carefully for damage before you buy. No expensive coin should ever be kept in a cheap flip. Give it the maximum amount of protection that you can.

 

I use the plastic snap locks - 60 cents ea. by the box. Not cheap, but good for coins worth something. Misc. coins can go into milar plastic or tubes .