Coin And Bullion Storage

If a bullion coin happens to have a value significantly in excess of it's melt value, it is no longer a bullion coin to my way of thinking. I keep such coins in ex Royal Mint proof coin screw capsules, such as a one ounce platinum Koala that I have. Actually Pt will not tarnish, but I like to keep it protected anyway.

For bullion coins that have little or no value above their melt value, I don't think that it matters much if they tarnish or not. Storing them in clear hard plastic tubes would be fine. That way, they are easier to count in groups. The tubes can be labelled for their net metal weight.

Small ingots are a little tricker to store. How about individual storage in polyetylene clip lock bags of appropriate size? Same applies to bar gold or silver, but because of their weight, need to be placed carefully inside a larger secure container, such as a metal ammo box or similar.

When it comes to coins that have numismatic significance, the more traditional forms of storage have been discussed in many threads here in the CCF.

A---Welcome to CCF.
B---In answer to your question -- For me...
1---Rounds and low-premium bullion coins (Prospectors, ASEs, CSMs, Libertads, Philharmonics) = RCM, US Mint or CoinSafe brand plastic storage tubes.
2---Higher-premium "semi-numis" bullion coins (Pandas, Kooks, Koalas, Takus, Britannias) = individual direct-fit type AirTite capsules, which go into CapTubes.
3---90% US junk silver = Cheap round plastic storage tubes.
4---The tubes get put into plastic mint boxes or military surplus metal ammo cans.
5---10oz bars get wrapped tightly in polyethylene plastic, scotch taped closed (NO rubber bands!) and stored in ammo cans.
6---1oz bars get stacked into piles of ten, wrapped tightly in polyethylene plastic and scotch taped closed. The bundles go into a coin holder storage box that's meant to take 2"x2" flips.

Whatever you do, stick with polyethylene plastic. Avoid PVC plastic and rubber bands because they'll cause bad news deterioration and toning to silver.

Military surplus metal ammo cans are great because the ones with good gaskets provide highly atmosphere-protective storage. Those high-end hard plastic photographic equipment
boxes are good too, but they're quite expensive. If you need to go cheap to start out, use a plastic toolbox. Not much protection, but it'll keep your stash from wandering off and
getting spread out all over the house.

Edit---Larger Tupperware containers provide good storage, too. Just keep whatever kind of boxes you use out of sight and hopefully well hidden.

Forgot to mention a couple other things about ammo cans---
1---Before using them for coin storage, wash the interior of ammo cans out well with warm water and dish detergent and then dry them out thoroughly.
2---When using ammo cans for coin storage, don't keep anything else in them. Don't mix ammo or gun cleaning supply storage with coin storage.
3---The fumes from gun cleaning liquids dissolve some plastics. I don't know what the fumes do to silver, but I'm not going to find out the hard way.

Traevin--You clearly need more ammo cans. Just in time to hit a fall gun show!

"Traevin--You clearly need more ammo cans. Just in time to hit a fall gun show"!


Yes, you can never have too many.

Anybody heard of desiccant doing any harm to holders or silver?

Rick

Traevin---I haven't heard of desiccant paks harming silver, and you're right about never having too many cans. I always have a couple empties for those
unexpected needs that have a way of popping up.

Surfer---If I were you, I'd definitely move out of the cardboard boxes and into surplus metal ammo cans or at least Tupperware. You could roll up the plastic
sheet (albeit crudely), secure it with scotch tape and stick it into an ammo can. Or get a big can or Tupperware container. They both come in a variety of sizes.