Shoeboxes And Whitman Plastic?

@ninamason



Well what do you know! We could have been "neighbors!" I grew up south of Erie, PA. Erie is, quite factually, Mafia owned/run so money flows in a few tight circles. But, as you said, the shoestring budget definitely teaches people how to learn to use their thinkers to meet needs. That type of horse sense just is not a very common thing anymore - unfortunately.

The locals look at me like I am either crazy or a genius b/c instead of (for example) throwing away the window AC and forking out 350.00 -500.00 for a new one, I would dare (OH NO - You are not a professional! You might get into trouble... it might ... it might blow up or something!) I ordered a new capacitor for it and fixed it myself (you did what? You really should have paid a professional, I'm sure it can't be safe now! Don't blame me if your family all comes down with leprosy or something!).

Don't get me wrong, I like the locals a lot. Its just I cannot believe how helpless they seem to be at times.

And one more thing I liked, and now miss, about the Lake Erie Snow Belt region - the 5-6 months of snow! Maybe I am crazy

@tirggersmob
Those boxes look to also be a good solution. Free is a good way to go. It tends to make it so you can save the money to get more pieces for your collection.

I have no problem with people who also want to make sure they buy the very best - such as insisting on all the latest, brand new Dansco folders. These are great looking and of good quality. So if someone has the expendable cash, I say go for it. But I am just the type (Erie again) that even when I have the extra $ I tend to still try to find ways to be miserly about it (without being cheap). I buy the used stuff if its in good shape.

@mkman



I agree with you on this one also. I have done this for awhile with year sets. The plastic, pocketed pages are great for putting vertical columns of each year and mm (well - no slot for the dollar coins - but I don't care to collect these anyway) .

Also learning on this forum I decided to try moving most of my stuff to albums. I went to Wizard Coin and got their green albums for inexpensive prices. But I am still a little leery about putting my coins in them (or any other album for that matter) b/c the rim off the coins will be contacting cardboard(ish) material which can absorb atmospheric moisture. The good thing about the 2x2s is that there is not cardboard-ish material touching the coin at all. I do not think I will be putting any MS or proofs (unless found in circulation) into the albums.

edited for syntax

And where do you guys store the albums that hold the 2x2's?

My thoughts exactly.

Steve

Earle, you're from ERIE? I grew up in Edinboro!! (HI NEIGHBOUR!)


Okay so now here's the real question . . . how close are you still to Erie? 'Cause I'll totally trade you coins for Smith meats


I completely agree on the Mafia thing, although I think it's also worth pointing out that the kids from Millionaire Row and the State Street manufactories are now grammas and grampas, so stuff that was "trinkets" to them is all valuable and fascinating to us (e.g. my aunt was bequeathed a cookbook so old that the instructions for "Sunday chicken" begin with "Once your husband has killed the chicken, you will need to defeather it . . . ").

Corry--Millcreek--Albion--MUSIC TO MY EARS.


. . . I will refrain from making Union City jokes, also. Most of the ones I know are not appropriate for this forum. EUP, though, is my almost-alma mater and therefore FAIR GAME, LADDIE.


I'm not and wish I was--Phx, AZ here.

I adore Union City. Not sure why so many jokes about it. Funny ones, tho.

We did the same in Edinboro! I still remember hitchhiking--in the 2000s--to the grocery store and back, knowing that if I wore a university T-shirt I'd get picked up by a soccer mom who didn't want me lugging bags for three miles.

One nice thing about a large, cardboard box is during a fire, you just grab one item and run. Having the best coins in a safe deposit box too is much safer during a fire or other disaster. A safe may stop most of the direct flames in a home but they do get hot. Enough to melt all the plastic items inside the safe. Imagine all your coins with plastic and ashes from the cardboard from items in the safe.
If you have a sort of small collection that fits into one box, you just take it and run.