Hello

[David]

Hello, everybody I live in the north east of England and I started collecting coins in the 60's. I've coins in all grades from poor to unc. I'm sorting things out and I do not know which is the best way to store coins I've looked at felt lined trays, sandhill cases, plastic wallets and 2 x 2 folders. What opinions do you have on which is the best way to store a coin collection at the moment they are in a WHSmith album storage system but I'm not to keen on it as the plastic is frosted and you cannot see the coins very good. The bulk of my collection is 20th & 21st century Elizabeth II British coins with a handful of 17th 18th and 19th century coins of assorted denominations. Any advice would be appreciated and help me making my decision. Thanks Dave.

[Peckris]

Hello, everybody I live in the north east of England and I started collecting coins in the 60's. I've coins in all grades from poor to unc. I'm sorting things out and I do not know which is the best way to store coins I've looked at felt lined trays, sandhill cases, plastic wallets and 2 x 2 folders. What opinions do you have on which is the best way to store a coin collection at the moment they are in a WHSmith album storage system but I'm not to keen on it as the plastic is frosted and you cannot see the coins very good. The bulk of my collection is 20th & 21st century Elizabeth II British coins with a handful of 17th 18th and 19th century coins of assorted denominations. Any advice would be appreciated and help me making my decision. Thanks Dave.

Welcome to the forums David.

If the coins are not particularly high value (i.e. QEII), then an album system, or 2x2 envelopes, is perfectly good, as long the storage is modern type, i.e. non-PVC. That will keep your silver / cupro-nickel in good order. Bronze, long-term, prefers a non-plastic solution, which means felt-lined trays could be the answer. Proofs should be kept in the cases of issue.

Ultimately, cabinets are the best thing, but they are quite expensive so you might feel are unsuitable for QEII.

It all comes down to what you want to spend, how much the collection is worth, where they are going to be stored, etc. But even plastic is fine as long as the environment is low-humidity and not by the sea. In fact, environment is no less important than storage medium.

[£400 for a Penny ?]

Hello, everybody I live in the north east of England and I started collecting coins in the 60's. I've coins in all grades from poor to unc. I'm sorting things out and I do not know which is the best way to store coins I've looked at felt lined trays, sandhill cases, plastic wallets and 2 x 2 folders. What opinions do you have on which is the best way to store a coin collection at the moment they are in a WHSmith album storage system but I'm not to keen on it as the plastic is frosted and you cannot see the coins very good. The bulk of my collection is 20th & 21st century Elizabeth II British coins with a handful of 17th 18th and 19th century coins of assorted denominations. Any advice would be appreciated and help me making my decision. Thanks Dave.

[£400 for a Penny ?]

Hello, everybody I live in the north east of England and I started collecting coins in the 60's. I've coins in all grades from poor to unc. I'm sorting things out and I do not know which is the best way to store coins I've looked at felt lined trays, sandhill cases, plastic wallets and 2 x 2 folders. What opinions do you have on which is the best way to store a coin collection at the moment they are in a WHSmith album storage system but I'm not to keen on it as the plastic is frosted and you cannot see the coins very good. The bulk of my collection is 20th & 21st century Elizabeth II British coins with a handful of 17th 18th and 19th century coins of assorted denominations. Any advice would be appreciated and help me making my decision. Thanks Dave.

See how easy it was to trip me up with just a minor technical hurdle ?

Welcome David.

Ultimately, this is down to you - the coins you have aren't demanding in terms of their storage, go for what you like the best.

Remember, it's supposed to be fun.

I use Slabs, Acid free paper envelopes and 2X2 Flips and store them in the long thin boxes specifically designed to take them.

Best wishes.

[David]

Thanks for that, I think I'm leaning towards plastic envelopes because you can pick the coin up,see it clearly and feel the weight, I'm going to a coin fair at Tynemouth on Sunday so I hope I'll get some there along with a very rare coin of some sort for a couple of quid that nobody else noticed

[Gary D]

Thanks for that, I think I'm leaning towards plastic envelopes because you can pick the coin up,see it clearly and feel the weight, I'm going to a coin fair at Tynemouth on Sunday so I hope I'll get some there along with a very rare coin of some sort for a couple of quid that nobody else noticed

It happens, more often than you would think. I picked up an about UNC 1949 3d which I paided full book for but what the dealer wasn't aware of was it was the little publisized sharp corner variety which I believe is a very scarce variety of a scarce coin. I also at the same fair picked up a 1922 florin in nice condition with the much scarcer repunched 2s. I think my best find was a 1902 low tidepenny in UNC with the 2 to gap marked up for £25 at Coinex last year. An example had sold at Colin Cookes 2 weeks earlier for £400.

Gary

[Peckris]

It happens, more often than you would think. I picked up an about UNC 1949 3d which I paided full book for but what the dealer wasn't aware of was it was the little publisized sharp corner variety which I believe is a very scarce variety of a scarce coin. I also at the same fair picked up a 1922 florin in nice condition with the much scarcer repunched 2s. I think my best find was a 1902 low tidepenny in UNC with the 2 to gap marked up for £25 at Coinex last year. An example had sold at Colin Cookes 2 weeks earlier for £400.

Gary

The sharp corner 1949 3d is scarce? The example I bought from Colin Cooke (GVF/AEF w lustre) some years back, is that variety. I'm pretty sure Colin didn't know it was scarce, and I certainly didn't.

[1949threepence]

Hello, everybody I live in the north east of England and I started collecting coins in the 60's. I've coins in all grades from poor to unc. I'm sorting things out and I do not know which is the best way to store coins I've looked at felt lined trays, sandhill cases, plastic wallets and 2 x 2 folders. What opinions do you have on which is the best way to store a coin collection at the moment they are in a WHSmith album storage system but I'm not to keen on it as the plastic is frosted and you cannot see the coins very good. The bulk of my collection is 20th & 21st century Elizabeth II British coins with a handful of 17th 18th and 19th century coins of assorted denominations. Any advice would be appreciated and help me making my decision. Thanks Dave.

Hi Dave,

I used to store my coins quite carelessly, often in Whitman folders, or plastic wallets. But I recently realised how much my collection was worth (20 years of collecting), and decided that a more professional method of storing was necessary.

I therefore bought a mahogany cabinet from Peter Nichols

Why Mahogany coin cabinets?

For the long-term storage and display of coins and medallions mahogany is the historically proven natural material without equal. Its lack of harmful oils or resin make it the timber specified by museums, professional numismatists and discerning collectors. Mahogany cabinets are entrusted to house the most important collections in the numismatic world. As specialist manufacturers I have selected Plantation Grown Honduras mahogany as a species noted for its even grain pattern and consequent stability. From this we have developed a range of cabinets in traditional design to suit the requirements of all collectors.

I purchased the Pheon, and I'm very pleased with it. Apparently mahogany is the best wood one can utilise for storage, as it has few degrading substances. See quote above.

Edited March 28, 2010 by 1949threepence

[1949threepence]

It happens, more often than you would think. I picked up an about UNC 1949 3d which I paided full book for but what the dealer wasn't aware of was it was the little publisized sharp corner variety which I believe is a very scarce variety of a scarce coin. I also at the same fair picked up a 1922 florin in nice condition with the much scarcer repunched 2s. I think my best find was a 1902 low tidepenny in UNC with the 2 to gap marked up for £25 at Coinex last year. An example had sold at Colin Cookes 2 weeks earlier for £400.

Gary

The sharp corner 1949 3d is scarce? The example I bought from Colin Cooke (GVF/AEF w lustre) some years back, is that variety. I'm pretty sure Colin didn't know it was scarce, and I certainly didn't.

I thought we discussed this sometime last year ? I'd never seen a sharp edge 1949 threepence, before I saw the image supplied by Gary.

[Peckris]

It happens, more often than you would think. I picked up an about UNC 1949 3d which I paided full book for but what the dealer wasn't aware of was it was the little publisized sharp corner variety which I believe is a very scarce variety of a scarce coin. I also at the same fair picked up a 1922 florin in nice condition with the much scarcer repunched 2s. I think my best find was a 1902 low tidepenny in UNC with the 2 to gap marked up for £25 at Coinex last year. An example had sold at Colin Cookes 2 weeks earlier for £400.

Gary

The sharp corner 1949 3d is scarce? The example I bought from Colin Cooke (GVF/AEF w lustre) some years back, is that variety. I'm pretty sure Colin didn't know it was scarce, and I certainly didn't.

I thought we discussed this sometime last year ? I'd never seen a sharp edge 1949 threepence, before I saw the image supplied by Gary.

It's entirely possible. My memory is notoriously goldfishy. But my 1949 is indisputably the sharp corner variety.