Review: CAPS Album For Cents

Alright— so I've officially converted my Lincoln Cent collection over to CAPS Albums from Dansco, and thought I'd share some pros and cons I've found. Some of what I'll share I guess is specific to cents in CAPS.

Pros:

1. Aesthetics and Visibility, you can truly appreciate the coins much more. There are several coins that just look so much better now that they're not behind a plastic scratched sheet. The cents almost glisten now! There are actually several cents that I had forgotten how well toned or better grade they actually are.

2. Date runs are current, and you can even customize a page if you need to based on your collection. For example the 2019 W cents are already included, whereas with Dansco they're just not part of the series. It drove me crazy to have to create a label for something I consider part of the series and put it in the back of the book, out of order. There is however a con regarding proofs (see below).

3. Quality, the album and pages are just really well made and makes the collection look much more substantial.

4. Details, for example each date is printed on the obverse and reverse of the page, making it easier to see both sides of the same coin.

Cons:

1. Album size, they're truly massive. What was once housed in two smaller Dansco albums now occupies three massive binders. But I mean they're really huge lol. I used to take my dansco to coin shows so I could compare for upgrades. not realistic now LOL.

2. Cost, I had to buy three binders (Wheat/Memorial/Shield) albums to house the entire 09-date collection. Aside from that, I had to purchase well over 300 air tite capsules — I lost track but I am sure I've spent over $500 for the entire setup.

3. Removing Air Tites from pages, if you need to upgrade a coin, or you accidentally put one in the wrong place, you need to remove it, and they're really in there tight lol. Also, good luck opening an air tite without damaging it. If anyone has any tips for this please let me know!

4. If you get the standard proof version, proofs start at 1950 for cents, which is kinda strange. I understand most collectors don't go way back to matte proofs etc and if you did you likely wouldn't have them raw but 1950 is just kind of random. if I had to purchase again, I'd probably get the proof free version for the wheat binder (1 of 3 binders), and then get a custom or blank date page titled "Proofs" to put at the back of the book.

Final Thoughts:

So yeah—overall I'm really happy I made the switch from Dansco to CAPS Albums for my Lincoln cents. It was definitely a bit of a project (and a hit to the wallet), but honestly, the way the coins look now makes it feel totally worth it. Some of these cents genuinely look like different coins now that they're not hiding behind scratched plastic—there's just something about the visibility and clarity in these pages that really makes the collection shine, literally and figuratively.

Of course, there are some trade-offs. The albums are massive—I mean seriously, these things are beasts—and I'm definitely not lugging them to coin shows like I used to with my Danscos. And yeah, the cost adds up fast between the binders and all the Air Tites. Not to mention trying to pry those capsules out of the pages when you need to make a swap. not for the faint of heart. Still, the overall quality and attention to detail CAPS puts into their stuff is super impressive. It makes the collection feel more polished and substantial.

I guess if I had to do it over again, I might make a couple tweaks—like skipping the standard proof version for the wheat cents and doing a custom proofs page instead—but all in all, no regrets. It feels like my collection finally has the kind of home it deserves.