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 Replies: 21 / Views: 2,845 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4132 Posts |
I was putting some proof and silver proof ATB Quarters in my album this evening, and I ended up smudging/marring a couple of them, and even somehow put a scratch in one. I bored out the holes beforehand with a quarter from pocket-change. I was wearing a mask and powder-free, nitrile gloves. I used an air duster and microfiber cloths to get rid of all the dust I could beforehand. I still managed to screw them up. How do you put proofs in albums without mucking them up? It seems like no matter what I do, the amount of force required to get them in the holes is inevitably going to screw up the mirrors. I have this problem with nicer MS coins too. Edited by CaptainFwiffo
02/29/2012 7:55 pm
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Valued Member
United States
266 Posts |
I have been putting proofs and silvers in my albums for years, and so far, knock on wood, I haven't screwed any up. Once I get them out of the case, and get the pictures, I just line them up, and push them in with a kleenex. (yes, it is a clean one).
I don't think that there is ever such a scenario where you can make a totally sterile environment for your coins. Maybe with wearing the gloves, they are getting warm from your body heat, and having an effect on the coins? I use a pair of the white cotton gloves that you can get at the Army Surplus store, and then use a fresh kleenex for each coin.
Just shooting out some ideas about what might be happening. Let us know if you get it figured out, so we can all avoid doing it that way.
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
7096 Posts |
the Kleenex is the way to go. I have more problems getting the coins out of those mongrel plastic cases that putting them in my albums  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1817 Posts |
Could be the gloves, with proofs and nicer MS coins, a fresh pair of cotton gloves is recommended. I only use rubber gloves for grimy used coins. Gotta be careful with the canned air too, but why modern albums require that much force is really strange, it was not the case in the 70s & 80s.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
I use a cotton ball. Just put it in on an angle and place the cotton ball on the edge sticking up and push on the rim. One thing is the actual Album too. Some manufacturers make the slots rather small and others make them a bit to large. I've never had to much of a problem with Whitman Albums as to getting coins of any kind into the slots.
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Pillar of the Community
3352 Posts |
Ummm, you're not trying to force your nickels into your dime albums again, are you?  Hey, would pre-cooling the coins to fridge-temp make it easier to slip them into their slots? ... or would the possible condensation be an even bigger problem?  NOTE => I have never tried my suggestion, so I would definitely try it with a punk-coin before I tried it with one of your minties! |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
4132 Posts |
The album was a Dansco #8146. I'm wondering if humidity is causing my albums to swell (I live in Florida), because this has been a chronic problem for me, and others don't seem to have it as much.
I've thought about cooling the coins to make them contract, but I am worried about condensation, because there will be some. Presumably it will evaporate, but if they contact something (e.g. the back slide), more significant droplets will form, and there could be spotting as a result.
I will try fresh cotton gloves or cotton balls with the next set I put in. Thinking about it some more, I think it might make sense to press it in with firmer object, like the blunt end of a pen, through something soft like a microfiber cloth. That way I can apply all the force to the rim. My thumb is squishy, so there's no way to avoid having some of the force applied to the fields of the coin.
Edited by CaptainFwiffo
02/29/2012 11:27 pm
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Valued Member
United States
266 Posts |
Quote:
I will try fresh cotton gloves or cotton balls with the next set I put in. Just be careful with the cotton ball, or even the kleenex, that you push straight down and not get any of it under and around the coin. I've gone back and seen pieces of kleenex sticking out the back of the coin, because I got it too close to the hole. I would imagine it would be worse with the cotton, as you would have white hairs sticking out of your coins. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7184 Posts |
All the more reason that I would like to see albums that hold coins with the air tite to protect the proofs.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1817 Posts |
Cap't, you might want to dry the page out carefully first, assuming that you put ALL coins of a specific year in the page at once. You would need to remove all the slides and any existing coins already in the page before drying. This is how I have fixed warped pages. Another trick you might consider is putting in all the quarters from the reverse side (of the page), that way, if you scratch one you won't see it that often. In place of the Kleenex (it leaves traces of lint inside the album), I use a bookmark sized card cutout from a file folder, about 2"x 6" or large enough so the cut edges do not touch the mirrored surfaces. Humidity can be a big problem with some albums, and Dansco openings are exactly sized for the coin.
Edited by Bizybackson
03/01/2012 10:24 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4132 Posts |
What did you use to dry the pages? Just an oven on warm or something?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1817 Posts |
I have thought about using the oven on the lowest setting, never have tried it. I am afraid it might get too hot and accidentally scorch the page, so I probably wouldn't recommend the oven. My method is simply place the page between two heavy books and let a space heater (about 18" maybe 2' away) oscillate over the edge I want dried for about half an hour. Then repeat on the other edges. I check frequently to make sure it doesn't warp the other way (or worse yet, start shrinking the openings too much) you might want to fill all the holes with pocket change just in case. In your situation, you could try the heater for 5-10 minutes or place the album in a closed box with a desiccant pack and see if that removes the added moisture. Good luck, but I believe you'll lick the problem.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Quote:
Hey, would pre-cooling the coins to fridge-temp make it easier to slip them into their slots? ... or would the possible condensation be an even bigger problem? This would make the coins smaller since cold makes metals schrink. However, the downsize is as soon as you put it into normal air, humidity would create condensation on the coins. Could be remidied by heating the coins after in the Album with a Butane Torch. Possibly the opposite method would also work. By that I mean heating the Albums with a Butane Torch. While the Album is flaming, the heat will make the slots larger and the coins should fall right in place.  Then simply spray with water. Just make sure it's distilled water since tap water could leave a residue.  Another simple method would be to lay the album on a solid surface, place the coin on the slot and hit with a hammer. To protect the coin, cover it with another Proof coin. Other solutions are: Would be to place Proof Quarters in a Half Dollar slot. Stop collecting Proofs Stop collecting coins Buy the Proofs and send to me. In a serious note though is if you remove the plastic slides, take a larger coin that is not a collecting type, place in the now empty, no plastic sliked hole and twist along the edges to enlarge the entire hole. This will allow your Proofs to more easily fall into place. |
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Moderator
 United States
187469 Posts |
Quote:
I have been putting proofs and silvers in my albums for years, and so far, knock on wood, I haven't screwed any up. Once I get them out of the case... I just line them up, and push them in with a kleenex. I have had pretty much the same success. I usually use a white handkerchief (clean of course), but I have used tissue as well. Some have been difficult, but patience always prevails. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1151 Posts |
Maybe you're just pushing too hard?
I know that when I was putting my Jeffersons in, that putting them in at just the wrong angle, will just ruin the coin.
That's why I tend to stay away from proofs in general.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4132 Posts |
I did bore out the holes beforehand with another coin, it didn't help enough apparently. They still required considerable force. Maybe if I had used an impaired proof instead of a circulation quarter it would have worked better. I think the choice of rubber gloves was probably wrong. I didn't expect them to leave smudges the way they did. Cotton might work better.
Probably it requires some practice too. The ones I messed up the worst were the ones I put in first, and since they were the clad proofs, it's not like I ruined incredibly valuable coins, and "ruin" is probably an exaggeration anyway (I don't have a pressing urge to replace them yet anyhow.) The scuffs and scratches on the slides are more distracting than the ones on the coins. Only one of the silver proofs has a significant smudge.
I will work on my technique on an empty page and stunt-coins before filling in the next set. I figured lining it up and getting in as level as possible was the best way, but maybe carl's angle technique will work better. Maybe I can bevel the edges of the hole with a small dollar. And as annoying as it is, I'll remove the pages from the album first.
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Replies: 21 / Views: 2,845 |
Posted 02/29/2012 7:54 pm
