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 Replies: 19 / Views: 2,037 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
615 Posts |
I was wondering if I should worry about slabbing a few Indian Head cents. Will they get damaged being sealed in plastic for a long period of time? How long can they be kept without damage to the coin? Will it EVER damage the coin or is slabbing "problem free"? Sorry for the paranoid questions, but I'm gonna get opinions before sending $500+ in coins to get encased in good ole plastic |
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Pillar of the Community
Spain
1361 Posts |
The coin is better inside a slab than in an album.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
615 Posts |
Well right now they are in cardboard flips, in a plastic bag, in my desk drawer.
My organization skills are lacking...
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Pillar of the Community
Spain
1361 Posts |
the coin is better inside an album than a plastic bag or a desk drawer
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Pillar of the Community
United States
860 Posts |
Slabs are an excellent way to store coins ( although expensive)
BUT!
Air, humidity, and environmental gases can enter ( and leave of course) slabs
as well as almost all other type of storage holders or albums.
You still have to keep them in a good dry environment or they will eventually react and corrosion can develop. Happened to 2 of my coppers in slabs in a bank box since late 1980s. I got involved with real life and forgot to keep checking the dehumidifier cartridge.
I only certify certain coins, all others I heat seal in a clear mylar flip and don't expect any bad reactions over the years.
Jim
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Valued Member
United States
135 Posts |
Have you considered using Air-Tites? Supposed to seal tight and not harm coins.
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Moderator
 Australia
16806 Posts |
Does a slab offer better protection than a 2x2 flip, coin album or coin cabinet? Yes. Anything that separates bright shiny metal from the atmosphere that's trying to destroy it is good for a coin, and a well-sealed slab is about as airtight an object as our technology can give you.
Will a coin change or degrade with time, even if stored in a slab? Some coins will, yes. If I understand slabbing terminology correctly, they assign colour codes to high grade bronze/copper coins, RD for red, RB for red-brown, BN for brown, and so on. But I believe that none of the TPGs will guarantee that the coin will remain perpetually the colour indicated on the slab.
Does a slab offer perfect, eternal protection for a coin? No. Or rather, the answer is "probably not". Frankly, we don't know what long-term storage inside a slab will do to a coin; slabs haven't been around for centuries, so we can't honestly say what a slabbed coin will look like in a few centuries time. The TPGs have probably done artificial aging experiments on their plastics and resins, but the only way to really find out how they perform is to put coins in them and wait for a few hundred years.
The archaeologists and museum curators of the future might well be in awe of our incredible foresight and wisdom in slabbing our coins. But if the history of coin preservation is anything to go by, it's far more likely that those archaeologists will instead be cursing our bones for being so stupid as to deliberately insert our rare and valuable coins into those "slab" things.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3294 Posts |
You could try freezing the slab in the middle of an ice block. Worked pretty well for that ice mummy they found a few years ago. Just dont let it thaw.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
533 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
615 Posts |
The ice block idea sounds pretty solid.
Literally.
Solid.
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
Makes it tough to show the collection off at parties, though.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1151 Posts |
It would make an interesting ice cube in the punch bowl.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10982 Posts |
Coin World "Do It Yourself" slabs are $5 each. For my higher value raw coins, I love them.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1840 Posts |
As people have already stated, the evironment that you store your coins in is the most important contributor to their future condition. In my opinion, moderate precautions will likely prevent big changes in our lifetime. I would buy air-tites and use the money saved to buy more coins. Quote:
Happened to 2 of my coppers in slabs in a bank box since late 1980s. Collectors often are unaware that many bank vaults are not kept kept at a low humidity. In fact maintaining a moderate level of humidity is often good for the documents that people often store in their deposit boxes. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1359 Posts |
Professionally SEALED SLABS are the highest protection! You can get humidity thru any type of protection. Just like if your coin been in your warm house and you take out in the cold freezing air, It might get that sweat on the inside of ANYTHING!!. maybe not. Sealed slabs are the best otherwise the grading companies would send them back in mylar melted closed...lol..think about it.
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Moderator
United States
16677 Posts |
TPG are the best way for long term storage. If not, I like Intercept Shield holders. Corrosion and toning prohibitors.
swcoin.ecrater.com
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Replies: 19 / Views: 2,037 |
Posted 12/09/2008 11:30 pm
