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Replies: 18 / Views: 2,381 |
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Valued Member
United States
90 Posts |
I am a noob at coin collecting and my interest is Ancient Roman and Greek coins. As of this moment I have only 4 coins with about 9-10 arriving later this week. I also at one point collected baseball cards and know that there were hard plastic protective sleeves to protect the cards.
My question is, Are there any thing that should be done to protect your ancient coins, such as protective casings or plastic sleeves?
If so, where would be the best place to purchase stuff to protect your coins?
Thanks for your responses in advance.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
3626 Posts |
The main thing is to use coin safe products. Normal albums or flips are not coin safe and can cause problems later on. I am in the UK, but I am sure the other guys can point you in the right direction in the US.
I use 2 x 2 coin safe double flips. Label goes in one side, coin in the other. Then they go into a ring binder with sleeves, probably similar to the ones for your baseball cards, 9 to the page. The sleeves are cheap, the double flips are not cheap, but better than the alternative.
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Valued Member
 United States
90 Posts |
Pish that is all greek to me, I will google the double flips. Thanks
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Valued Member
 United States
90 Posts |
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Valued Member
 United States
90 Posts |
LOL! I double struck the URL!!! That's got to be worth something.....
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
3626 Posts |
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Valued Member
 United States
90 Posts |
Thanks Pish, that article was very informative and has pointed me in the right direction. Two Thumbs up!
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
4208 Posts |
Coin Protection is a tricky topic. You shouldnt ever give up on a coin - remember, the plan should be that the coin should outlive you by a couple of millenia.
The key points are these: Removing anything from the coin which could harm it and then making sure nothing gets to the coin that could harm it.
Methods: First, all coins should be deionised to remove Chlorine which causes BD. any chlorine ion will destroy the coin given time. Removing the ions involves deionised or distilled water - soak for about 12 hours at a time and then replace the water, removing any green specs without remorse, straight down and into the metal.
Second, remove surface impurities like olive oil which could cause discolouring and eventual corrosion. Also with DW or Acetone - I've found it useful to burn off anythign that refuses to emulsify, but you'd need to repeat the DW treatment to ensure biproducts dont cause issues.
Then, seal the coin in wax. Before hand, remove the water by heating it in an oven for a period of time. Wax it. This gives a layer of protection against airborn woes. Buy Ren wax - its pricey, but it lasts forever and its really good at what it does.
After that, storing the coin is important. the wax will protect it, but PVC would eventually get to the fabric of the coin. You need something like a Saflip. HEat sealed would be even better to exclude gases.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
3626 Posts |
Yes, they seem to be the right thing.
Another point is, you should watch out for something called Bronze Disease. You will come across it eventually, it is a bright green powdery substance on the coin. If you can pick it off easily with a pin, it should be treated (more of that later). The important thing is that if you find it, don't store the coin in a flip until it has been stablized. If you find a coin in a flip with BD, you should throw the flip away.
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Valued Member
 United States
90 Posts |
Ben, never heard of the Acetone treatment, but I do have some in storage. But I did read something about Red Devil Lye and that stuff scares me.
I will research Ren Wax. When waxing, the wax should be clear so you can actually see and enjoy your coin.
Thanks for all the info. All of this is new to me as I have researched about coin collecting for the past two weeks (my wife going to kill me, because it takes away from our business, LOL) but some of the ideas that are presented here I have not seen, heard or read about. But I consider the people on this site to have the knowledge and know how.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
3626 Posts |
Don't try and take too much on board all at once. Ben gets very technical, but he knows what he is talking about. Start cleaning the coins first, then you can post questions as and when you need to. Rennaissance wax is used on bronze coins only, not silver. The British Museum uses it to preserve their artifacts, you can't get better recommendation than that. Your ebay seller has it: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Renaissance...em4cede56589There is no rush to get it yet. And there is certainly no point in wasting in on a blasted coin.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
4208 Posts |
Yeah, you wont need to use it until you have quite a few coins cleaned. Its much more important you learn the cleaning process properly first. Patience is your friend in this pursuit.
Edited by Ben 12/18/2013 11:46 am
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Valued Member
 United States
90 Posts |
"Patience is your friend in this pursuit." 
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4971 Posts |
long story short philip, if you're not cleaning or anything just make sure you have non-pvc flips..the one you posted above would be just fine. just note that they don't come with paper inserts to write you coin info, so if you want to do that you'd have to make your own (i always by flips that come with inserts).
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Pillar of the Community
United States
549 Posts |
If you buy a quality coin, there are several ways to store it, but do not use wax. At a major coin show almost no coins will have been treated with wax. If you are worried about corrosion damaging your coin further or "bronze disease", you are acquiring low-end coins. Then take the advice of those who collect and know about low-end coins. But leave quality coins alone. You may touch them, but keep them away from things that can scratch them, keep them away from damp, and if you use flips (I do) be sure they do not have PVC, that is, be sure they are "safe". Unfortunately, safe flips are often brittle. They are not soft (the soft flips have dangerous PVC--avoid them) and their edges can be sharp enough to scratch a pristine coin, so be careful sliding the coin in and out.
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Pillar of the Community
Netherlands
1204 Posts |
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Replies: 18 / Views: 2,381 |