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 Replies: 17 / Views: 7,955 |
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New Member
Canada
26 Posts |
My writing is not pretty and only gets worse if there are a lot of holders to label. This means that my collection looks organized but very sloppy and VERY not professional -- not that it needs to be professional, but it would just be nice to look nice. Deciding that something needed to be done, I looked into label makers but found they had a high cost of tape and would be pretty tedious typing and printing out thousands of labels. Then I thought there had to be a full sheet of 2x2s that can be printed and then broken apart like DIY business cards, but nothing was found like that. The next thought was the band rubber stamps, but for longer labels the letters would be too spaced out and end up too wide. The solution that seems to work so far is a band rubber stamp for the date (as that changes frequently) and then a self-inking stamp that can be customized to knock out categories at once. The cost was $6.99 for the band stamp, $4.99 for an ink pad, and $24.99 for the self-inking stamp. It will be quite a process, but I think the results make it worth it. Pulling a single type of coin it is easy to stamp the country, denomination, KM# without changing anything and then the date and my inventory number (from ExactChange) with the spin of a dial. It's not perfect with the placement and smearing, but practice is making me more consistent. Has anyone else undertaken something like this or (since dollar-wise I am not that invested) have any solutions that are better/easier?  |
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Rest in Peace
United States
1559 Posts |
I think that is a brilliant idea  Considering that a decent label maker costs around $30 plus replacement tape, it would seem to be less time consuming and more cost efficient. Like you, my writing gets worse the more I write! Perhaps you can post a link for these products? Or did you purchase them locally? Thank you for posting this Cacc  Edited by Tootallious
02/22/2018 11:50 am
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New Member
 Canada
26 Posts |
The replacement tape is what threw me off with a label maker. Even if you buy off-brand stuff, it is still rather expensive per print when you consider how much wasted space is before and after the print. I thought maybe print a bunch at once to limit waste but then you have to cut each one manually and hope they don't just curl into each other. These links are all Amazon Canada, but of course the stamps are available everywhere. The DIY Self-Inking Stamp I put the country in the top right corner, the denomination in the lower right, and the KM# in the lower left. This gives me enough space to stamp without overlap. The 6-Digit Number Stamp I use for the date and then I got a second one for inventory number so that I don't have to keep changing from a 4-digit date to a 5-digit inventory. Since there is no blank space, I just set the sides to - so that even if I mess up and misalign, it won't be that bad. Doing a whole bunch at once, was very quick and easy -- lined the holders up and did all the denomination stamps first, then went across and did country, then flipped them all and did KM#. When they were all done I flipped them back over and stamped date then flipped and did inventory number and then that one was done and adjust numbers to do the next one. Once lined up and ready to stamp, it took about 15 minutes to do 100 coins in my first batch attempt. DIY Self-Inking Stamp: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B004F76IRI/6-Digit Number Stamp: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B001A408U2/Archival Ink Pad: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0056ETF8I/One thing I noticed, the self-inking stamp took a little while to dry fully (about 10 minutes), but the archival ink was dry within seconds. Going to attempt to replace the ink in the self-inking stamp with archival ink for that beautiful quick dry. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3323 Posts |
Great idea, Cacc. Now, to see if I can find one (or have one made) that can apply a date / mintmark combo.  "Nummi rari mira sunt, si sumptus ferre potes." - Christophorus filius Scotiae
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Rest in Peace
United States
17900 Posts |
An excellent solution to a problem lots of people have.
Thanks for sharing that possibility.
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New Member
Canada
26 Posts |
Bump111, in my hunt for the right solution I have seen things that MIGHT help with that. On this site they have 6-digit stamps that you can choose what each band has; 0-9, A-M, or N-Z. This would help if all your mint marks fell in the same half of the alphabet, which is not the case for most, and they are also pretty expensive for what they are. I did not find ones that were already pre-configured, so cheaper, with numbers and letters in a small stamp. https://www.acornsales.com/alphanum...p-s/1925.htmFrom Ali-Express I found ones that have both alphabet and numbers for very cheap, but they are quite large. Each character appears to be 1/4" so for 8 characters you have gone across an entire 2x2. For $9 it might be worth it to some though. https://www.(NotAllowed).com/item/K...8966148.htmlTo get past the size issue of the previous one, I found this one which allows for bands down to 1/16"...but it is quite expensive depending on the number of characters. All the letters and numbers in each row for 6 rows is over $150 for example. For 4 rows of numbers and 2 of letters it still ends up being $100. https://www.thestampmaker.com/rubbe...-wizard.aspxThere are options out there, it just depends on how much you are willing to spend. But I hopefully missed something too and someone has a more elegant solution they are willing to share! We all need it! |
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Moderator
 United States
188043 Posts |
Good idea. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5029 Posts |
That is a really good idea. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1314 Posts |
I like this thread.
My handwriting is only going to get worse with time. I'm at the point where some of my 2x2s are more like note cards that I've accepted will need to be redone.
If my printer would feed the 2x2s, I would consider making a template for printing on them. But alas, I have an HP printer and it won't even feed HP photograph paper.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3323 Posts |
Thanks for those links, Cacc. Will take a look.
"Nummi rari mira sunt, si sumptus ferre potes." - Christophorus filius Scotiae
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3402 Posts |
I kinda liked your hand printing...has a certain character.
KK
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Did that years ago before they had the self inking stampers. Had stamps made up for everything we needed. Then set up a jig board so I could put the 2X2 in it and the jig would control the rubberstamp to make sure all the printing was in the same place on each 2X2.
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Valued Member
United States
422 Posts |
Great idea and it looks so much more organized
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New Member
Canada
26 Posts |
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Condor10 Did that years ago before they had the self inking stampers. Had stamps made up for everything we needed. Then set up a jig board so I could put the 2X2 in it and the jig would control the rubberstamp to make sure all the printing was in the same place on each 2X2. That is a great idea! Using books or something as a wall so that the stamp ends up in the exact same place every time will definitely help with consistency and improve the look in a binder or when flipping through a box. Thank you! I have been reading this forum for months now (not posting much, but reading a lot) and this is why I check new posts before I even check the news every morning. Smart people sharing a passion and ideas about a hobby we all love. Quote:
Kopper Ken I kinda liked your hand printing...has a certain character. Thank you but those are just good looking examples that I pulled. They get MUCH worse to the point that I could bring them into a pharmacy and probably get some good stuff. They always start off pretty when I am writing them, but 10-15 coins in and they are illegible even to me. Quote:
Chute72 If my printer would feed the 2x2s, I would consider making a template for printing on them. But alas, I have an HP printer and it won't even feed HP photograph paper. It has crossed my mind to make a template to be used with photo-thickness sticker paper. In my dream, the paper would be die cut to the different sized 2x2s to be printed and and come with a sheet of cardboard 2x2s with the same sized hole. Then you just peel the sheet of sticker off the backing and apply it to the sheet of perforated cardboard and then just pop the finished product apart. To be honest, I am actually very surprised that this doesn't exist yet. There seems to be a lot of money in coin supplies, but they haven't really changed in many years to take advantage of anything more modern than a stapler. That would revolutionize the coin collecting industry!...or at least make us look a little more organized. |
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New Member
Canada
26 Posts |
...and this is where I start building things in my head that I don't think I would be able to build in real life... What if you took 2 trays that you put the letters into from 2x1" DIY self-inking stamps and glued them together. Then drill a silver-dollar sized hole dead in the middle the two of them. Take a blank 2x2 rubber stamp and glue the trays onto it. Now you have stamp that is 2x2 that you can customize and get everything on one side of the cardboard holder in one go without getting ink anywhere near the mylar window. This would solve inconsistency issues as they are the same size so it would be very easy to line up. Million dollar idea! If I do attempt this, you guys will be the first to see! If someone else attempts this, please share the process and results! |
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Moderator
United States
188043 Posts |
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...and this is where I start building things in my head that I don't think I would be able to build in real life...  Quote:
If I do attempt this, you guys will be the first to see!  Quote:
If someone else attempts this, please share the process and results!  |
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Replies: 17 / Views: 7,955 |
Posted 02/22/2018 12:13 pm
