Are Whitman holders as good as any? Are Kointains superior? Air-tite? I like the look of the Whitmans, but the Kointain ad I read implied that Kointains are superior since they touch the coin only at its edge. Seems like the Kointains might be difficult to open up. Advice? Thank you. Bill
Every manufacturer will say their product is just wonderful. But not all are. Standard coin albums have their problems and I would never recommend that anyone use them. Kointains are indeed hard to open and even harder to get the coin out without damage. Pretty much any of the hard plastic holders are as good as another with the exception of Intercept Shield, they are without doubt the best - but more expensive. Best for the price IMO are Air-Tites.
I've got to agree with GDMJSP on this one. But I have to admitt that I am guilty of sometimes using albums or other storage methods which aren't the best. I like the display of albums, so I resort to using them sometimes, usually for coins that aren't worth a fortune. Air-tites are the way to go though.
Glad to see Air-Tite holders getting some good reviews. We are not the manufacturer of Air-Tite coin holders, but they are our biggest seller by far. We sell all of the brands mentioned in this thread except for Intercept Shield...they are too expensive for many collectors, and we just haven't gotten a lot of requests for them over the years. There are many good brands on the market today, as long as you stay away from the cheap imports that contain PVC you should be fine.
Not sure what you mean by Whitman HOLDERS. As for me I've got well over 100 Whitman Classic Albums. Almost all are in plastic zip lock bags. I've been using Whitman since I was a kid and that is probably all that existed back then. None of my coins appear to have any toning, tarnishing, corroding, etc in well over 60 years. If there is something wrong with my methods of storing coins in the next few hundred years, I'll let you know.
I agree with Stainless...I prefer the Airtites with rings as well. I think they all pretty much provide the same protection. Simple plastic discs. But, I like the look of them. Guy~