Question About Copper Proof Coin Storgae

[Patrick2023]

Hello, just a quick question about how to store copper proof coins (penny, half penny, farthing). I like to handle coins raw so slab is not an option. Apart from slab, what are the best alternatives? Flip, plastic air-tite or polyethylene envelopes? Will flip or polyethylene envelopes cause scratches on the proof surface when sliding?

[Kipster]

I asked this question to a well known retailer only recently after picking up a couple of proofs. Lighthouse capsules were ok to keep them in, along with the small cellophane envelopes that they are sent out in. It's the PVC ones that they need removing from immediately. So I now keep mine in the cellophane envelope inside my cabinet.

I'm sure others with more experience than I will chip in with their opinions. 

 

 

[Nonmortuus]

I tend to keep all my raw coins in quadrum capsules of the appropriate size. So far (8 years since I started collecting) nothing has been affected by these capsules.

[1949threepence]

Personally I prefer a classic wooden coin cabinet for my copper and bronze proofs. I've got several cabinets, and this is the quite small one I use for my proofs. Walnut, with untreated mahogany trays so as to prevent leeching/contamination. Untreated mahogany is always the best wood for storage. 

Incidentally, talking of copper proofs, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see quite a few in Noonans auction of the Philip Richardson collection of George III coins on 3rd October 2023 at 14h BST.  

 

 

[Kipster]

1 hour ago, 1949threepence said:

Is this the little one you bought from Rob Davis? Tidy little piece that.

[1949threepence]

Just now, Kipster said:

Is this the little one you bought from Rob Davis? Tidy little piece that.

Yep - you don't need as many recesses for your proofs/patterns as you do for your general currency strike collection, as by definition there will be far fewer. This is a nice box to hold them in

Not for everybody though. We all have differing opinions.

 

[Patrick2023]

4 hours ago, 1949threepence said:

Personally I prefer a classic wooden coin cabinet for my copper and bronze proofs.

What has your experience with the cabinet been like? I think they are the best way to display proof coins yet I always fear the coin will slide around. 

 

[Sword]

2 hours ago, Patrick2023 said:

What has your experience with the cabinet been like? I think they are the best way to display proof coins yet I always fear the coin will slide around. 

I think it depends on how careful you are. People have been using cabinets for a long time before slabs, quadrums, capsules were available and so I assume they must be fine if you are not careless. 

Like Non, I use quadrums. There is the quadrum intercept claims to protect coins from tarnishing for up to 15 years.

[1949threepence]

3 hours ago, Patrick2023 said:

What has your experience with the cabinet been like? I think they are the best way to display proof coins yet I always fear the coin will slide around. 

 

Excellent. Been using cabinets for many years and had no deterioration of coins, whatever. 

The coins will only slide around if the cabinet moves. If you treat it gently, that won't happen. Don't open and close the trays roughly or in a hurry. Besides which I think "cabinet friction" is a casual term often used by those who don't have a clue whether the coin concerned has ever been in a cabinet.

A huge clue is the way an old proof is FDC - yet for at least, say, the first 150 years of its existence there was no viable modern alternative to a wooden cabinet.