My Basement Storage Plan

There really isn't anything you can do that will insure your coins safety in a basement that has at least one room leaking when it rains.

Even silica, which will absorb moisture quickly, and zip lock bags are only going to do so much. If you doubt it, take a few zincolns, stick them in zip lock, put in a silica pad, leave for a month in the basement.

Do the same thing but leave that bag of zincolns upstairs (not the attic if you have one).

Within a few months you will likely see a difference between them.

Of course you have to use the same condition zincolns in both bags. If you can find a solid mint roll, split that roll and use half in one and half in the other.

It should show you that zip locks and silica is only going to help so much.

I've been using Day Mount Air Tight 2X2 and 2.5X2.5 holders for better than 30 years and I've never had a single coin change in any way inside them, regardless of the room or safe condition.

They are a good deal more expensive than the stapled 2X2's, but I figure if I'm too cheap to use the better holders, the coin isn't worth preserving.

I think your significant other needs to move their shoe collection out of the upstairs bedroom closet to make room for your coins.

A basement can be just as secure as an upper level, but in this case with water dripping in one of the rooms in the basement it would require that problem be fixed.

What exactly will happen to coins in a humid environment? short term or long term effects?

Short term effects-the surfaces will start the process of corroding, Long term effects-they will corrode

Again, they can only absorb so much moisture then may actually start leaking out excessive moisture. Yes they are great if you maintain them or frequently change them. If not, waste of time and money. Remember any item can only absorb so much moisture and then that is all.


Varies massively. You have to remember that moisture is water and water vapor is much heavier than just air. The moisture in the air settles downward so a basement is like a trap for that. Any leakage or outside air coming into a basement, has no where to go so it just stays there. Every time you open a door, you allow new moisture to enter and being heavy, it will go down, down, down.
Many people have a cloths dryer in the basement. Every 30 minutes of drying time usually empties out about a 12 cubic foot room or air. It comes in from everywhere to replace that now lost air that went out through the cloths dryers vent. Note too, if you have a furnace and/or hot water heater in the basement. If gas fired, they have a vent to the outside. when not used, air from outside comes in that vent too.
There are just so many places that leak air into a house and especially an old house. Again, best to move your coins out of the basement.

Just recharge your silica packs every 3 or 4 months to keep them working well.

Preheat an oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
Lay the silica gel packets flat on the foil-lined baking sheet. For loose silica gel, spread the granules in a layer no more than 2 inches thick on the foil-lined baking sheet.
Place the baking sheet inside the preheated oven and bake for several hours. The amount of time varies between 1 to 12 hours depending on the thickness of the silica gel. A good general rule of thumb is baking for 1 ½ hours for every 30 ounces of silica gel.
Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Let the silica gel cool to room temperature on the baking sheet.
Store the cooled silica gel packet in an airtight container until you're ready to use it.
Read more : http://www.ehow.com/how_5035187_rec...ica-gel.html

And just how many remember to do that? Or why not just keep buying new ones? Or just move your coins out of such humid areas.
One of the big problems with moisture is the changing of temperatures. For example ever notice what happens on a car when you go from warm damp to cold. Moisture collects on the windows. This too happens on coins. Going back and forth in temperatures makes moisture collect on coins and this really makes them tone, tarnish, corrode, etc. For coins, or any metal, keep in as low a moist area as possible.
And so far I've never used any jel packs of any kind in over 60 years of collecting coins. No problems yet.

A tip for silica packs. My son worked at a furniture store. They constantly got in furniture that required assembling in the back room. It took him only a month and he got a Wal-mart type plastic bag STUFFED with them for me. All the store will do is throw them away anyway.

So try to see if a local store will save them for you instead of chucking them. All it took where he worked was to throw them in a box until the box was full.