Protecting By Album

let me guess, the folder you are using for the State Quarters is a whitman fold out folder where you just pop in the coin, right? those will severely tone your coins...especially BU coins. if you want a good album, get the ones with the sliding plastic (i use Dansco albums). those are your best bet at preserving/keeping coins.

no prob. Dansco albums are a bit pricey, so I would get those only for long term storage of valuable coins. For more modern stuff, you could use 2x2s and keep them in a binder. I use one of those pop-in whitmans for my State Quarter collection (they are all from circulation, so I really don't care if they get toned...I'm making that set just for fun). I also used one for the modern Jefferson nickjels (westward journey, etc.) and it toned all nickels a goldish tone...which looks kinda cool...but in fear of worse toning, I moved those (with the rest of my nickel set) to a Dansco. There are other brands of similar Dansco-type albums that will do a good job and are cheaper, but Dansco is probably the best known name out there.