First I’m talking about one sided folders and not coin albums. I have most of my memorial cents in a whitman folder. The folder itself is then sealed in a ziplock bag with other folders. I believe the folder itself was from the 90s or later. These all came from circulation so most are no better then AU. Lately I’ve noticed the backs of the nicer coins are becoming dull and darker. I know folders can cause toning and discoloration and that whitmans albums are known to cause it but are their folders worse then other brands? I have the rest of the memorials and my shield cents in a Harris folder and wheat cents in 2 littleton folders. None of these folders show any sign of effecting the coins. Now I don’t want to pay for an album or such for coins that are only worth 1 cent each. I have an empty littleton memorial cent folder and a stack of unlabeled Harris folders that I think have enough slots to replace this one with. Should I switch these coins out to one of the other brands or is that unlikely to make a difference? Is so is either of the folders more likely to be safer for them? Which brand is best at protecting coins.
Them being circulated, I wouldn't bother changing folders. If you want shiny get proof sets or MS70 in plastic.
That has been a long standing debate. I know that my Merc dime book was started in the early 1970's and the dimes I put in as a kid are absolutely going black. Some have said that Dansco's wont turn your coins and I have several Dansco sets that do not show toning but my oldest Dansco is maybe twenty years old..... It has something to do with the sulfur used to make the cardboard. I don't know that there is any way around it with coin folders.
Whitman folders will tone coins. Sometimes the results are better than others. The coins on the second and third boards are exposed directly to the inside page showing other folders you can buy. Left for a Very Long Time, the ink on this page will "stencil" the toning on the coins so that you can actually read the page's text on the coins. I have a few of these I can post tonight that were put into the folder when red in the 1950s and left for 30-40 years until I popped them out.
Actually, it's like @Randy Abercrombie said...the paper in these albums was made using the sulfate process and residual chemical causes the toning.
The ink protects them from the paper. Here are some of mine. It's not just copper that tones like this in Whitmans, either. PCGS had no issues with straight grades for any of these.
Great coins Messy. Here are a couple of I found years ago, low grade but most folders are. And the only one I have in MS.
Thanks. That is not what I expected. I do have some older low grade sets in folders still that I'll have to keep an eye on. I guess just to be on the safe side I'll switch the set out to one of the other brand folders I have.
