Long Term Storage Of Silver Coins

Nevol good chance the sticky decimal coins came out of the red plastic ( PVC ) RAM wallet sets up to, and including the 1983. The worst culprit is the 1983 red plastic (PVC) wallet, and it's the mint set only 20c which can have that disappointing sticky gunk on them. Usually acetone is helpful to remove the sticky gunk although sometimes there can be fine residual marks left on the 20c from the area(s) where the gunk has been removed. Occassionally, the 1971 - 1973 red RAM wallets suffered with sticky gunk /greenish discolouration on the coins as a result of very poor storage, and the red RAM wallets being stacked on top of each other for years. The humidity helps the PVC, in which the coins are housed in the red RAM wallets, ruin the coins.

trout I always staple my self adhesive 2 x 2 coin holders and crimp each of the staples flat with a small pair of pliers.
However, I haven't stored my coins in albums for over 35 years, I store all of my coins ( in 2 x 2 holders with the 4 staples crimped flat ) in tins. The Arnotts biscuit tins 250cm x 180cm x 75cm high, or similar, are the ideal height and can comfortably house around 280 50c coins in 2 x 2's with a divider in between each row of coins. Each and every coin also has a square piece of photocopy paper cut slightly smaller then 2 x 2 between them.

As for those who prefer to store their coins in albums : I still maintain - though each to their own method - that albums
should be stored upright with a large thick rubber band, or similar, either vertical or horizontal around the album to stop the slippery coin pages from shifting/ moving, as they are prone to doing.

If I can also add : I have learnt over the years that it is essential to wash the $1 and $2 coins with soap and water, a good rinse, pat dry, a bit of a gentle polish with a soft cloth BEFORE putting them into 2 x 2 holders. For whatever reason, quite a few of my $1 and $2 coins were over time discolouring, with some even pitting. Ouch ! I figured that whatever lubricant the RAM uses in the coin production process of the $1 and $2 coins must have been leaving a very fine film of that lubricant on the coins. The ( chemical ) interaction of the lubricant with the 92 % copper in the $1 and $2 coins caused the adverse ruining effect.

Hopefully more members can contribute their thoughts, ideas and methods. We're all here to further our knowledge.

To answer the OP's question about storing "Bullion" grade Silver coins Keeping them in snaplock bags is just fine and also stored in rolls that have been vacuum sealed is a great idea as well.
I have recently been vacuum sealing the small $10 "Baggies" that RAM has been making available to us and it not only prevents the air/moisture coming into contact with the coins ( the baggies are Not airtight) It also prevents the coins from "Bagging Up" any more because when vacuum sealed the coins are held tightly in place.




If the albums are stored flat the coins do Not Shift/Move and there is No pressure applied to binder or the pages themselves, Nor will the self adhesive 2x2's loose their integrity.
Can you explain Why you think that storing the albums upright is a better way of storage?

There is No need to staple self adhesive 2x2's as it defeats the purpose of using them in the first place.
Staples even if they are flattened pose an unwanted threat to coins due to the possibility of scratching a nearby coin and they also attract rust, especially if stored in steel tins/boxes.
I have coins in their lighthouse self adhesive 2x2's that have been there for 10+ years and the glue hasn't deteriorated or become unsealed and the coins are still in the same condition as when I first put them in their 2x2's.

Storing coins in steel tins/containers is NOT a good idea and I personally would not recommend doing it.

Washing "Circulated" coins IS a good idea, It gets the circulation "Grime" off the coins But polishing them even gently is a definite NoNo.
Once a $1 or $2 coin has been in circulation the acids contained in the hand grease/sweat that is deposited on the coin through circulation/handling Will affect the coins and toning is inevitable.
I have some Uncirculated 1984 dollar coins that are not toned at all as they haven't seen any circulation so I doubt that IF they had been lubricated during the minting process would cause them to tone.

I agree,i still have silver/copper Coins stored since the 1970's and they and the adhesive holders are fine,to get a Coin out you have to cut it out.
I'm not sure where the Furphy of them coming apart started,its only since the Internet that I've read about it,might have been a bad batch(or Chinese copies) or stored near high humidity or heat or something but I've found Adhesive Lighthouse 2x2's excellent.

I'm not concerning myself too much with toning so I just use PET saflips in PET album pages which go in a safe - hardly air-tight much better than leaving them out in the open.

I've heard of other people heat-sealing saflips - not sure how this works long-term as there is still some air in the saflip. I guess vacuum storage should work as long as you're using the right plastic?

As posted above I use Lighthouse self adhesive 2x2,have done since the 1970's and not a problem of any kind.The Coin remains almost exactly as first stored,maybe a litle Toning which in most cases with Silver is good IMO.
Couple of things thou.,if the Copper Coin has Verdi it will still grow despite being in a sealed 2x2 so you have to treat before storeage.
2nd thing is the Chinese fake Lighthouse products on the market,they replicate the box or packaging so hard to pick,extreme buyer beware,only deal with Lighthouse agents/resellers.

aus_sprite: for the sorts of silver coins that you are storing, what you are doing is quite OK.
More sophisticated storage approaches to what you are currently using, perhaps would be justified for more valuable items, that have significant numismatic value.

As mentioned earlier, storing silver coins in steel tins is not a good idea.
Actually, I do store bulk junk silver coins in steel tins.

Nevertheless, with any coin in my collection,
glued 2x2's in non PVC album pages are fine, but I use copper plated staples for my 2x2's.

Two reasons for copper plated staples:
1. Steel staples can leave rust marks, so I prefer copper plated steel staples. Even with steel staples, I have never experienced the coins themselves being affected in an any way.
2. Stapled 2x2's can be re opened and re cycled.

That's interesting,never seen it myself with Lighthouse 2x2,must be a bad batch,fakes,or stored near a heat source.

I use saflips which are made of PET.