Would You Ever?

I will also place a vote for keeping the hole bare. Putting anything in there besides the proper coin would really irk the 'OCD' side of me.

I have several holes in my folders/albums which I'm pretty sure will never be filled. Yes, I could save for a few months and pick an item or two up, but each of us has some price-point where we feel paying $100, $200, $500 or more for a coin is just stupidity, especially when one is having a tough enough time paying for the bare necessities of life (food, shelter, transportation, etc.). If by some miracle I become affluent enough I might just buy some of those 'big ticket' coins, but until then I will live with an unfinished collection.

Aside; The bare-hole syndrome also applies to having most of a collection in folders/albums and having two or three in slabs. Although I don't like to buy slabbed coins I have none the less obtained a half dozen or so. For now, I've just put a check mark next to the hole to let me know I've got that coin somewhere else (I've bought two of the same coin before by not doing this). I'd hate to bust the slabs open, as they do provide a more sound basis for my heirs in the future, but who knows?

Hi atticguy

For slabbed coins I do something similar to what you do - I put an empty 2x2 into the hole in my binder, but fill it in with date, remarks, ms grade, certificate #, etc -- all the information that I would if the coin was actually in the holder. This lets me know I have a slabbed coin of that date and allows me to fill a hole at the same time.

I don't have any of the really rare dates though; those I don't even leave room for. I figure if I ever do get one then it'll be a pleasure to have to shift all my coins over one slot to make room for it!