Can I Safely Change How I Store My Collection?

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Author	Replies: 9 / Views: 1,871
trent Valued Member United States 355 Posts	Posted 12/01/2021 1:36 pm Background: I am in New York. We get all four seasons. It's dry in the winter, and even with AC in the summer it can be very humid. I keep my coins in a closet on the main floor or our home, not the basement, not the attic. Current practice: Most of my albums are Dansco's. Every 2-3 albums in a large ziplock bag. In the bag I add a sacrificial, BU zinc Lincoln Cent as a canary to detect potential corrosion issues. Also in the ziplock bag is some desiccant packs. These are then kept in a tupperware storage bin with a huge brick-size desiccant pack. This is buried in a closet under other boxes usually. So far, I've had no issues from storage over 10+ years. Looking to do: To make room in the closet, I'm considering storing the albums on a bookshelf, in the same room. Options I'm aware of are: 1.) Remove all albums from ziplocks and just store on shelf. 2.) Purchase those Dansco slipcase covers where you store multiple albumbs in a one. That is if you can even find those these days. Right now I'm only seeing individual slipcase covers that fit one album at a time. I'm dealing with about 15 albumbs here and 15 individual slipcase covers is crazy $$ for storage. 3.) Keep albums in ziplock bags, put still store on shelves and set it up so it looks are neat as possible, even though it probably won't look pretty. IMO options 2 and 3 suck. I'm concerned about option 1 though. Thoughts/comments/better ideas? Thanks. Edited by trent 12/01/2021 2:36 pm Report this Post to the Staff

NumismaticsFTW Pillar of the Community United States 2313 Posts	Posted 12/01/2021 2:26 pm Option 4: Move out of New York to preserve collection You realize when you know how to think, it empowers you far beyond those who know only what to think. -Neil deGrasse Tyson Report this Post to the Staff
jbuck Moderator United States 194970 Posts	Posted 12/01/2021 2:59 pm Could you find another container bin that can go somewhere else, like under a bed? Coin Collector Since 1978 Avatar Old Avatar 7070 Eisenhower Australia Canada World CCF Members on eBay CCF eBay Search Engine Report this Post to the Staff
trent Valued Member United States 355 Posts	Posted 12/01/2021 3:42 pm Kind of, but not really, not with irking my wife. She has stuff stored under there already. Barns, attics, garages, basements galore we have, but space with stable climate controlled storage is far and few between for us unfortunately. Edited by trent 12/01/2021 3:42 pm Report this Post to the Staff
jbuck Moderator United States 194970 Posts	Posted 12/01/2021 4:04 pm Next option... a cabinet with doors, one that will restrict air-flow similar to the previously used bins. Of course, you were probably looking to utilize an existing shelf, in which case you may need to replace or find a spot for the new cabinet. Coin Collector Since 1978 Avatar Old Avatar 7070 Eisenhower Australia Canada World CCF Members on eBay CCF eBay Search Engine Report this Post to the Staff
macmercury Pillar of the Community United States 5894 Posts	Posted 12/01/2021 4:26 pm Climate control is the main factor to storage, there's no other way around it. I used DampRid moisture absorber hanging bag that I change every few months, depending how much moisture is in your storage space. Report this Post to the Staff
Bump111 Pillar of the Community United States 3342 Posts	Posted 12/01/2021 5:19 pm I've had my Lincoln Dansco on a bookshelf in the living room for 20+ years with no slipcover and no issues. I live in central NC - humidity is rampant for most of the year. Can't speak to the silver coin albums. They've only been around for 5 or 6 years. If you have a good climate control system in your home, you should be OK. "Nummi rari mira sunt, si sumptus ferre potes." - Christophorus filius Scotiae Report this Post to the Staff
trent Valued Member United States 355 Posts	Posted 12/01/2021 5:26 pm Bump, That's good to know. I don't have much silver, it's not really my focus, so that's great to hear. In general, I think more exposure to the environment might modestly increase toning. I have a lot of Lincolns and Zincolins. I worry about the zinc coins in the long-run, but that might be ultimately unavoidable anyway. Report this Post to the Staff
westcoin Pillar of the Community United States 9809 Posts	Posted 12/02/2021 02:07 am Sounds like you've done okay, your method is similar to mine, except I don't use the Ziplok bags or zinc cent. I do have a slipcover. Question are your coins Red or RB Uncs? or just circulated browns? That is probably a big factor to consider. My Red and Red-Brown cents have all begun to tone in the Danscos' no matter what I do after about 25 years now. Nothing bad, but definitely getting circular edge toning that is darker. "Buy the Book Before You Buy the Coin" - Aaron R. Feldman - "And read it" - Me 2013! ANA Life Member #3288 in good standing since 1981, ANS, Early American Coppers Member (EAC), Colonial Coin Collectors Club member (C4), Conder Token Collector Club member (CTCC), Civil War Token Society (CWTS) member, Liberty Seated Collectors Club (LSCC) & Numismatic Bibliomania Society member (NBS), USMex, Member in good standing, 2¢ variety collector. See my want page: http://goccf.com/t/140440 Report this Post to the Staff
trent Valued Member United States 355 Posts	Posted 12/02/2021 10:59 pm ^^I collect mostly moderns that get circulated in business strike, but strive for MS/uncirculated quality where possible. I built the core of my collection from 1965 to current in at least MS grade and now am working my way back into the more trickier to collect eras. I'm just getting into going through my collection again after a couple years away from it. Since the >1965 mint sets base set, I've upgraded some coins to higher MS coins than what came out of mint sets, got into Lincoln Cent errors/varieties, created a custom US cent Type album. I've ventured in some more pricier key dates and varieties of SBAs/Ikes/LMCs,some of which coming from graded NGS/PGCS slabs which I've cracked to add to Dansco albumbs, and some custom made dansco albums. For the Lincolns, most of my multiple sets of cent collections are brilliant from current date to about 1979, then they get a little more red through the 60's. Once we get farther back to wheats and more key dates, I get more browns and slightly less than MS quality. I'm a little weird in the way that I collect, but any slabbed coins I buy, I crack, add to the album, and save the paper from the slab and add that to a custom page in the album. TL;DR nothing too super-amazing, mostly moderns, but trying to do them well. Edited by trent 12/02/2021 11:01 pm Report this Post to the Staff
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