Ensure the safety and protection of your collection by knowing the products their holders are made from are safe and that they allow you to easily view them while prevent any movement that may cause your coins to be scratched.
While storing your collection always keep them away from direct sunlight and any heating or cooling vents. Keeping your collection placed safely within a safety deposit box or safe will also help reduce the risk of any moisture damage that may occur to your collection over time. Your collection should always be stored at a constant temperature year round in a controlled environment, such as bank vaults or safety deposit boxes. These offer excellent ways to control the storage temperature of your valuable coin collection.
Specialized collections or sets should always be stored within a coin album or its holder to help prevent any movement during storage. These albums allow the avid collector to view both the obverse and the reverse of each coin in their collection while offering them the most maximum protection from any elements of contaminants. Albums are specially designed to be placed upon a shelf or inside of a drawer with their binding facing outward and the edges of the album resting on the shelf or drawer itself. It is never wise to store your albums while they are lying flat on a shelf with multiple albums stacked on top of them. This action will only decrease the strength and durability of your album by increasing pressure placed on your coins.
While keeping your individual coins safely within rigid holders such as plastic 2x2 holders or slabs for long term storage will prevent any excess movement or possible damage to your coins. A holder that has been damaged will allow air or other contaminants to make contact with the surface of the coins over time. What ever coin holder you choose should not be able to scratch or put abrasions on your coins. That is why it is important to never remove your coins from their holders to protect them from damage. The holder should hold your coins firmly and gently, while not allowing the coin to roll around from inside of the holder.
Any storage system selected should be made from a safe material that are stable and non-degradable. They should also be free of plasticizes and any slip agents that may leak out and damage your collections. If the plastic that you store your collection in changes its properties over time, then it will turn yellow or even become sticky or brittle and cloudy. This is not a suitable material for the protection of your coins, nor is it a stable material.
Once considered safe for storage was cellulose acetate, but has now began to be rapidly falling out of favor due to it has been found to be able to degrade the coins by giving off an acetic acid. Another acidic material that should be avoided in any storage units is glassine. PVC or polyvinyl chloride tend to leach out of the plastic causing notes to become translucent and corrode your valuable coins by producing a type of green slime.
Another chemical that needs to be avoided is polyvinylidene chloride or saran tm, because can release hydrochloric acid. The quality of paper in envelopes are often in doubt and can cause abrasion to your coins. The blue type of cardboard folders that are used to store coins by type have holes in the cardboard which they are pressed, but the majority of this has been made of acidic cardboard and requires considerable force and handling to insert and removal of your coins.
Other storage units you need to be cautious of are coin tubes, which allow coins to rub against one another. Traditional wooden coin cabinets are not recommended either because wood tends to be acidic and the lining of these cases can also cause problems due to allowing your coins to move around inside of the drawers. Instead of using wooden cabinets a safe alternative would be enameled metal cabinets.
The most commonly used coin holders are called coin flips, which are inexpensive and provide valuable protection as long as they are made of a safe material. The only drawback is that your coins tend to slide around inside of the holder, so try to choose the closest size to your coin. Coin shells fit your coins exactly and have a foam ring insert that will hold your coins firmly in place. The most important thing to remember is to know what your holder is made of before placing your valuable coins inside of a storage container. |
