New Tools ..... I'm Fired Up!

With the jewelers loupe, hold the loupe up to your eye(really close to your eye)and move the coin up to te loupe till things are in focus. With 16x you will only see a small part of the coin at once but you will see it well. As for the air-tites, you can reopen them but it takes work and a little technique. It is best to make SURE you want to use an airtite so you don't have to worry about reopening them. Good luck on the nickels, there are still good ones out there but you need to be patient.

G'day,

quote: "UPS delivered today ..."
- in my experience, well ..., I have no experience because they've never found me.

jeweler loupe - see what HZ said. There are two distances involved: between your eye and the lens; and between the lens and the coin. Both have to be correct for it to work. Do you wear specs ? If so, try the loupe with them, and without them. Sooner or later, you will find the configuration that works.

remember, the other factor is lighting. I usually have to go to a window or outdoors when I use a loupe.
Once you get it all right, you will have a lot of fun.

"2x2 with staples in the corners ..."
- there are two types of 2x2: self-adhesive, and non-adhesive. Both have their fans. I use non-adhesive, because:
1. the glue on adhesives can get on your coin while inserting it: no good.
2. there are legions of stories about self-adhesives becoming unstuck, and the coin falling out. Not much protection.
3. self-adhesives cannot be re-used.
4. S-A are a lot more expensive. I'd rather spend my money on coins than on storage.

2x2 can be either plain squares, or with a little tab. The tabbed ones are better for getting out of your album.

The non-adhesive 2x2 need to be stapled. But, for the best result you need to either -
get a *flat-clinch stapler*, mine cost less than $10 but only specialist stationers seem to have them;
OR - use an ordinary stapler, and manually flatten the staples afterward. Tedious, and the risk of slipping with the screwdriver, or whatever tool you use to flatten the staples, and then damaging the coin, is unacceptable to me.
So, when I bought my flat-clinch stapler, I bought at the same shop a staple-remover, so I don't put other tools near my 2x2. If you don't flatten the staples, they damage your album, and probably also other coins in the album or storage box.

*flat-clinch stapler* - there are several previous threads about this tool: use the CCF search button to trawl the archives.


Stapling technique: great opportunity for individuality here: some people put the staples parallel to the edge; some go for the corners. Some use 2, or 3, or 4 staples. I suggest you look at every 2x2 you see, and experiment a bit.

I don't use other systems: I decided that 2x2 is the way to go. I have large albums, a small album for outings; and a storage box with individual slots for each coin: no good for display, but very economical for storage space.

Peter in Oz

I tried a HE Harris 16x loupe Wide what ever wide means and did not like it because it looked blurry around the edges so I bought a ANCO 14x doublet loupe and like it a lot and it cost less then $10.Try the 16x and if it doesn't work for you don't get frustrated just get a 14x.
John1