Unusual Tarnishing Over 15 Years That Coins Have Been Stored In An Album. Any Ideas What Caused It?

Will do!




I'll openly admit that they weren't stored particularly well (nothing was used to lower humidity, but at least they weren't in an attic or anything), but that doesn't explain the really weird tarnish pattern. Nor does it account for my other coins being perfectly fine, despite some of them also being copper pennies.

Interesting topic here, I never had used the littleton products, I stick to Dansco now - but 50 years ago I used Whitman folders (all I could afford with my quarter allowance)

I doubt anyone will be surprised to know that they sent a generic response that doesn't even begin to address my actual concern. Littleton, I didn't need a mini lesson on what toning/tarnish is, and how it can occur. I was never expecting your product to entirely prevent tarnish all on its own. I would have much preferred that the coins have natural-looking, even tarnish, which I'm almost certain would have been the worst-case scenario had I not used your product.

Seems to me that this is likely the same message they send to anyone with a remotely similar concern. "Outstanding customer service" would be tailoring the response to a particularly unusual situation when required, not this nonsense:


"I'm very sorry for any misunderstanding regarding your coins and our albums. While our albums are designed to provide the best possible protection for your coins, there is absolutely nothing that can prevent toning completely.

Littleton coin albums are constructed of acid-free materials and the slides which cover the coins are of polyvinylchloride(PVC)-free plastic. Like any other album, they are not airtight. Over a period of time all coins not kept in airtight holders can expect to tone a bit. Toning is a natural process found on uncirculated coins. Every coin begins to tone as soon as it leaves the press, because all coins contain reactive metals. Over a period of time, coins chemically react with substances in their environment. For silver coins, the result is a surface film of varying intensity that gives all or part of the coin a range of solid or multi-colored iridescent hues on the surface. Another feature commonly found on uncirculated coins is a white to yellow 'staining'. This natural occurrence is a result of the minting process.

The more we are learning about the environment surrounding where and how the coins are housed, the more we understand about the possibilities. For instance, coins housed in a paper pulp town or in a hot, humid coastal area, will tone differently than those housed in a dry community. Coins kept in holders in a damp cellar or hot, humid attic may tone more rapidly and deeply than those kept in an air-controlled room of a home. It is possible that damp, humid conditions, high acidity from a nearby pulp processing plant, even heavy cigarette smoke, can accelerate the toning process.

We do not know if your coins are kept in an environment that is unusual one way or the other; perhaps the environment would not be noticeable to any person. Just the coins or other metals may react.

At Littleton, we've been striving to build better albums and ways of coin storage. Technology has affected all parts of our life, including coin collecting. The corrosion barrier technology from Lucent Laboratories has truly added another dimension to coin collecting. Using this technology can halt toning and eliminate corrosion."

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