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 Replies: 27 / Views: 4,202 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1247 Posts |
A big lesson I learned when collecting stamps, was that you pay a small fortune for storage supplies, hinge mounts, albums etc.. What I discovered when I sold my collection.. Albums... nearly worthless. Binders all that stuff, worthless. So when I started coin collecting I swore of albums and such. I do have 4 albums, 1 50 State Quarters collection, which I paid $50.00 for the entire collection and album it came in. 1 SBA album, I got for 2.00, 1 JFK album I got for 5.00 and one Ike album I paid 10.00 for... Now, I got these early on, and realized, buying new would cost a fortune. So what I decided to do is do what sellers do. Use 2x2 flips... It is much cheaper, modern flips are as good as they get for coin preservation, storage is considerably less troublesome and easier to secure. I can store all my coins in two small safes. Using 2x2 and double sided storage boxes. Obviously the more expensive coins get put in plastic coin holders (air tights), but they still take up less room for storage. So for those of you starting in the hobby. Weigh the costs of 'filling' albums and the costs of buying those albums, because when you sell your collection, the albums are either worthless or worth very little. I can get all the USED albums of all types from my lcs at a fraction of retail. |
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
12842 Posts |
Yeah, pretty much worthless when you go to sell, but if you don't have sale value in mind, albums make the collection look great.
If you don't want to spend a fortune up front you can usually get very inexpensive (used, empty) albums from coin dealers at LCS'es or Coin Shows from albums they've purchased and broken up for individual sale of their (former) contents. YMMV of course.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1911 Posts |
My take on them seems to be like yours but not... for you see, I only have one "common" Dansco album for my CRH Kennedy halves and I am in agreement it won't add to much to the collection if it is ever sold. But I also have some other Dansco albums that are considered "rare" due to being discontinued type sets. Those are the only Danscos I am tracking down right now. Have US, Japan, and Mexico type albums so far. For the Japan and Mexico I paid about $70 and $60 respectively, but if I ever go to sell, they will add that much value due to them being considered rare. So same mindset I guess but just a different situation since I deal with "rare" but "common" albums go for what you say :) |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1247 Posts |
Mister... what you refer to would be a secondary market for old albums, or old slabs... to me, I have no interest in rare albums.
I came across that as well in stamp collecting. Finding a stamp album produced in the 1800's. In reality I found it to be a very small niche market
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Moderator
 United States
189010 Posts |
Quote:
... but if you don't have sale value in mind, albums make the collection look great. This. I will stick with my Dansco albums.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
500 Posts |
 I like my Dansco albums and don't mind spending a few dollars to keep my sets all together in one album. I can see your point but as a "set" collector I can't imagine my coins in 2 x 2 's |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1911 Posts |
OK I see what the point is of your OP. I do agree that all that stuff is a pretty big cost and where you could spend all that money on an actual coin you go and spend it on an album and that just delays the real fun. But I am with jbuck, I love the look of the albums since it makes it seem fancy. :)
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10038 Posts |
This is why I looked for an alternative and found the "Coin COllector" albums sold at Wizard. I want sometime to make my own plexiglass pages similar to albums. From past experience, I don't trust having cardboard touching my coins. I thought I had sealed off some older coins airtight in folders. But since there was latent humidity trapped in the cardboard, the REVs of the coins lost all luster while in storage.
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Rest in Peace
United States
4078 Posts |
Not sure if this is relevant, how about the Dansco 7070.
New or used is worth a number of bucks.
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Moderator
United States
189010 Posts |
That is the truth. I would never sell mine, but it certainly gives me a warm feeling.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1192 Posts |
Well I buy my albums used for less then the cost of buying individual flips usually. I got my dansco Mercury dime and Walker halves almost brand new for $2.50 apiece. Even if they were more I still do it. I'm not investing I just want to enjoy my collection and have them in the most enjoying way. I used to only use flips when I was a kid but it was so boring. |
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Valued Member
United States
62 Posts |
I am a collector not a seller, with that in mind I prefer to collect in alblums, much better to look at and enjoy than 2x2 flips stored in my safe   |
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New Member
United States
31 Posts |
I agree I like the albums so I can look at coins. I collect not a dealer. flips are for ones I don't have books for or extras
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1247 Posts |
I want it to be known, I am not poo-pooing anyone's decision to use albums or not.
I am just stating my opinion and reasons for not buying albums.
I am not a dealer not even part time. I only ever sell duplicates of what I might have.
If I were to put all the coins (US) that I have in albums, I would fill an entire shelf of a bookcase, which for me isn't very secure. I want to keep my coins in a environmentally safe way as possible so my heirs will be able to make some dough of my collection.
And some of the coin I have wouldn't go into any albums I know of, I would have to make them.
My Ike album is nice, but I got the album for $5.00 and was able to complete my Ike collection in a fair amount of time at a fair cost. (Speaking of which, what do I do with all my spare Ike's? I even have a MS69 Ike in a slab, not to mention a couple of Brown ikes still in plastic.)
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2624 Posts |
There is only one "Album" I would consider... that is the Dansco 7070 (USA type collection) but albums are really an American phenomenon. From the start I used binders, these are like a more flexible form of album... no dates written on them so you collect as you wish to. Binders are cool as long as they are PVC free... PVC slime is horrible and amazing that nobody twigged earlier that the plastic needed to be archival quality. Anyhow now that is known it seems a good option, not as expensive as albums and more flexible. For my better coins I use 2x2's which go in some higher quality binders, these coins are modern gold or ancient coins and I collect types rather than dates. Its only the modern stuff I collect dates and these go in the binders. I would rather spend £50 on a coin than an album but that's my preference... and slabs, I don't like those either. So for my cheap coins:  And my better coins:  Edited by DavidUK
02/25/2016 11:39 am
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Moderator
United States
189010 Posts |
Quote:
I want it to be known, I am not poo-pooing anyone's decision to use albums or not.
I am just stating my opinion and reasons for not buying albums. No problem with that. You have to do what makes you happy, not anyone else.  |
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Replies: 27 / Views: 4,202 |
Posted 02/24/2016 11:46 am
