Slabs Or Albums - High Grade Set - Please Assist

Regarding my Dansco comment in the other thread, note that I've only seen scratches on the plastic slides. I see no evidence of damage to the coins, but I have to figure over time, it could happen to a high end coin. Many of my coins don't fit tightly either, so they move around a bit, causing more contact with the slides. My set is circulated and the only MS coins in it are a few $30 ones, so it works for me. I personally would be scared to crack an expensive coin and put it in there. But as others have said, they put their best in albums with no problems. Unless you hear of confirmed damage-by-album, I'd say add another one to the list of personal preference.

Here's what my labled coins look like today:




Every single one of my Lincoln proofs from 1937 to current is in an airtite....well...except a few I have slabbed:

I use Dansco albums and love them. You can also buy them not labeled for you free form collectors.But if I don't want a 55 double die, I put a regular 55 in the hole, never know when my roll searching may pay off.
justcarl, you could take pictures of your cents, then vacuum pack for protection...just look at your pics when you get the urge, no loupes or glasses needed

I should probably expand on my previous post. I have a few free-form Dansco albums. One is a custom Indian Head cent, Buffalo nickel, and Mercury dime album. It has six blank pages, two for each denomination. This allowed me to skip all of the varieties that the regular Dansco albums have.

By serving my needs best, I meant that I want to use AirTites for the high-end coins and desire a nice, efficient way to store and organize them. The fact that I would be doing a free-form collection reinforces that decision.

I was about to see what size AirTites I can get and then find out if those dimensions match any common US coin. Then see how tight the fit is :). I'm sure someone else out there has done it like you're saying. My problem is just having access to all those Dansco's.

This leads you back to the way Thad's doing it.

I couldn't agree with you more about the ability to assess grades on expensive coins. I was originally going to try and get some of the expensive ones out of the way first, but have since altered my thinking a bit. If I can see enough of the more common coins I think my ability to grade them will improve - then I'll be better sure what I'm getting when it comes to the expensive ones. Of course if a good deal comes I might not be able to pass it up.

True, but you and I both care what they look like when we look at them. Which is why you use Whitman blue and I use Dansco brown!