Found a box of vacuum packed coin albums from 15 years ago I forgot about - should I open them?

Mr_Spud

I found a cardboard box packed full of coin albums and folders that I vacuum packed not long after I moved to California not long after I moved here from Charlotte which was 18 years ago that I had totally forgot about. I remember being concerned with the humidity because I’m renting a house 6 blocks from the Pacific Ocean and we didn’t have air conditioning until 2021 or so and even now we only use the air conditioning when we get rare heat waves. The average humidity in my house is 75% and I didn’t want the salty humid air to make them get terminal toning or spotting. I remember buying a seal a meal and sealing up a bunch of coin albums, folders, mint sets, proof sets, but I thought I had opened up all of them years ago. I remember opening up a bunch of proof sets, mint sets and mint products all vacuum sealed in their original mint packaging. I specifically remember taking all the mint products out of the original mint packaging and putting the coins still in their capsules into mason jars with desiccant cartridges in them and putting the empty mint packaging into a drum to be stored separately, but I must of forgot about not opening all these albums. I’m guessing these were sealed up at least 15 years ago. The box was heavy, so lots of the albums and folders must be full or partly full at least. Do you think I should open them and take a peak?

Morgan White

You should start a break called "Vac Box" and sell them for $495 each.

Swampboy

Those vacuum bags have been enjoying your coins for 15 years.
Your turn.
JMHO

Goldbully

I know I would open them.

You can re-vacuum them after your 15 year inspection is done.

Onastone

You found your own Time Capsule!! Time to open it.

Namvet69

Time to reevaluate and enjoy your collection. 15 years is a long time. Good luck. Peace Roy

OAKSTAR

Well, it would have been a great experiment. Coins being vacuumed sealed for 15 years. A little before and after action. But if you totally forgot about these coins, chances are you totally forgot what they looked like before you vacuum sealed them.

But if you tell us you took picture of them before you sealed them, then we're in business............open them.

MsMorrisine

only if you can vacuum seal them again

pcgsregistrycollector

Open. Nothing to lose.

MsMorrisine

if mint sets are an example, you may have some odds and ends only in there

Mr_Spud

I opened a few, 2 Roosevelt albums in Whitman Albums and a Mercury Dime album Meghrig album, a Kennedy Library of Coins album and a Lincoln cent Library of Coins album. There were some toners in the Roosevelt albums that mainly looked like classic blue Whitman toning that I’ve seen on Roosevelts in Whitman albums before , just very slight yellowing of a few of the Kennedys, the circulated Mercury’s weren’t colorful, but had nice thick skin and it was complete except for the 16-d, the Lincoln cent album was in a Library of Coins album and the coins look mainly like nice red MS coins, with just a few developing red or plum toning. None of them had much in the way of spotting, no terminal toning either, so the vacuum packing probably was enough to keep them stable. I might open a few more tomorrow and take a few pictures. But no, I don’t have any pictures of these albums from before I sealed them up and forgot about them. They most likely were ones I picked up filled or partly filled and finished them back in Charlotte. There might have been old pictures on the obsolete computers in the attic, but I doubt I’d be able to retrieve them. I remember working on the Mercury dime one in particular. Mrs. Spud completed a Mercury Dime set in a Dansco album, and then she upgraded them all to be AUish and I got her hand me downs, so I ended up completing it except for the 16-d all in average grade of fine plus or minus a grade and a half or so, I had forgotten whatever happened to it, whether I sold it or not, but here it is again. For the 16-d, I do have a slabbed NGC AG one in the SDB that I also got as a hand me down when Mrs Spud upgraded hers to a slabbed NGC VG8.

privatecoin

@Morgan White said:
You should start a break called "Vac Box" and sell them for $495 each.

This!

seatedlib3991

@Mr_Spud . From your picture I can see that in some cases the coins are visible thru the seal plastic. Unless you are hoping for varieties or what not, I would just leave those alone.
I will say that some of the closed coin albums may hold a forgotten treasure but perhaps time will jog your memory as to what is inside. Otherwise i guess it is misty memory time and you can revel in the past. James

Creg

If you as a child, or someone else, filled any holes, check the dates, I had a 1931S in the 1931D pock for fifty years. I found a misplaced 1926S in an album that I bought.

yspsales

They would have already been opened.

Yesterday, saw a dealer with about a dozen sealed 64's proof sets at a decent price.

Was very tempted to buy them and rip them at the table.

Don't know how they can hold back TBH

davewesen

The Library of Coins Jefferson and Dansco slipcase with whatever inside could be very nice if they were nice UNCs when sealed

Bochiman

@Mr_Spud said:
I opened a few, 2 Roosevelt albums in Whitman Albums and a Mercury Dime album Meghrig album, a Kennedy Library of Coins album and a Lincoln cent Library of Coins album. There were some toners in the Roosevelt albums that mainly looked like classic blue Whitman toning that I’ve seen on Roosevelts in Whitman albums before , just very slight yellowing of a few of the Kennedys, the circulated Mercury’s weren’t colorful, but had nice thick skin and it was complete except for the 16-d, the Lincoln cent album was in a Library of Coins album and the coins look mainly like nice red MS coins, with just a few developing red or plum toning. None of them had much in the way of spotting, no terminal toning either, so the vacuum packing probably was enough to keep them stable. I might open a few more tomorrow and take a few pictures. But no, I don’t have any pictures of these albums from before I sealed them up and forgot about them. They most likely were ones I picked up filled or partly filled and finished them back in Charlotte. There might have been old pictures on the obsolete computers in the attic, but I doubt I’d be able to retrieve them. I remember working on the Mercury dime one in particular. Mrs. Spud completed a Mercury Dime set in a Dansco album, and then she upgraded them all to be AUish and I got her hand me downs, so I ended up completing it except for the 16-d all in average grade of fine plus or minus a grade and a half or so, I had forgotten whatever happened to it, whether I sold it or not, but here it is again. For the 16-d, I do have a slabbed NGC AG one in the SDB that I also got as a hand me down when Mrs Spud upgraded hers to a slabbed NGC VG8.

I seem to recall, years ago, you mentioning that your Mrs was doing the merc album.
That's cool that you still have hers and yours.

291fifth

Since you haven't looked at them in 15 years are they really of much importance to you. Maybe it is time to just open them up, check for condition issues and sell them.