Home U.S. Coin Forum

Intercept Shield Album Ruined My Set

I just pulled out my Washington quarter Intercept Shield album (1932-1998) and all my proof coins have hazed over very badly. I assembled an identical set in a Whitman album at the same time and they're all fine. Needless to say, I'm quite irritated at the moment. Will post pictures as soon as my camera battery has recharged. Oddly enough, the statehood quarter album seems to be fine. Must be something in the paper. Who do I sue?
«1

Comments

  • Bummer. How long ago did you last look at them? Are the hazed ones all from the same source? Where was the album stored?
  • critocrito Posts: 1,735
    All my albums were stored together, the coins are from various sources, but all were blast white when I put them in. Admitedly, I haven't looked at the set in a while, or I would have removed them before they got this bad. I order my albums the first few weeks after they came out from a board member's website (not his fault so I won't name him).
  • sinin1sinin1 Posts: 7,500
    bummer -> hazing is good in uncirculated coins, especially when colors are formed


    I have a Whitman Jefferson folder with 2-sides slides - the proof neckels are turning very lovely with a light purple around the periphery
  • critocrito Posts: 1,735
    It's the paper the pages are made out of. I bought two of these from the same source, one went into the Whitman, the other into the Intercept, both albums were stored together. The Whitman coin is still blast white. Yeah, it'll probably tone too, very slowly over decades, but not in a couple years and not this ugly.

    image
  • critocrito Posts: 1,735
    Now I've got to take all the coins out, buy another album for the ones that survived and toss these terrible albums in the garbage. Don't know why the Statehood quarter album is OK, I have both clad and silver proof in that one, and they haven't changed at all. Maybe because I look at it more often so the box gets "aired out" frequently.

    image
  • littlewicherlittlewicher Posts: 1,822 ✭✭
    Actually, I think they look nice with the colors. They might turn in to rainbow monsters if you leave them in there.


    For some life lasts a short while, but the memories it holds last forever.
    -Laura Swenson

    In memory of BL, SM, and KG. 16 and forever young, rest in peace.
  • BigEBigE Posts: 6,949 ✭✭✭
    They use acidic paper to make Intercept Shield albumsimage--------BigE
    I'm glad I am a Tree
  • BigD5BigD5 Posts: 3,433
    "Who do I sue" That's the spirit!

    Were all the albums stored in the same location? Seems odd. If you're throwing the album away, I or another board member would gladly take it off your hands. image
    Good luck with the restoration.
    BigD5
    LSCC#1864

    Ebay Stuff
  • sinin1sinin1 Posts: 7,500
    go to their website www.interceptshield.com


    I thought they had some sort of guarantee but I do not see it -

    they imply these albums are so good, you will get an extra 60 years of tarnish resistance

    ... or whatever ...
  • critocrito Posts: 1,735
    The red in the photo is because this stupid Nikon Coolpix can't auto-white balance worth a !@$# and I can't do it manually and still use macro sceen mode (wish I had bought a different one). More like rust colored in person, there is some nice blue mixed in there, though.

    Yes, the albums were stored together on a bookshelf away from direct sunlight. The business strikes haven't toned much and no where near as fugly.
  • You can only tell so much from a pix but they don't look that bad. Maybe worse in person?

    Suppose you let nature take its course and could they tone fully and cover over the haze?

    One man's haze is another's rainbow!
  • critocrito Posts: 1,735
    I'm a "blast white" kinda dude image If I had wanted colors, I would have bought Dansco albums image At this point, I doubt I'll ever buy another Intercept Shield album.
  • I would call them and see what they say. I too thought there was a guaranty with those albums. I would take additional pics, leave the coins in the album for inspection and email the pics to them on Tuesday. They might want to see the coins in the album, in person, undisturbed, before they offer anything up. I would have to believe that they would do something for you.

    But from a legal standpoint, do not disturb or remove the coins, any of them. I'm sure before they will make good on anything, they will want to look into this. They might actually be very interested since this is exactly what isn't supposed to happen with those albums.

    Let's us know how it turns out.

    Michael
  • BigEBigE Posts: 6,949 ✭✭✭
    They will say that the coins had been contaminated before they were placed in the album and that Intercept Shield will not reverse damage that was already thereimage-----------BigE
    I'm glad I am a Tree
  • PlacidPlacid Posts: 11,301 ✭✭✭
    I thought they were tested for 10 years?


    image


    That sucks image
  • keetskeets Posts: 25,351 ✭✭✭✭✭
    hey Crito

    first the light-hearted humor-----sounds like a bummer of a day, first the coins and then the camera!!image

    ...........but, to be serious, it sounds like a raw deal. your thread caused me to pull out my Intercept albums to check. they're only 4-5 months old, though, and everything seems normal. the reason i use the albums is to stabalize the coins i place in them in the hope that nothing further will happen to the surfaces of the coins. with my Jefferson's, i'm putting in toned MS coins as i find them and the deepest Cameo proofs as i find them. with the Ike dollars it's the same thing, toners and the deepest Cam's. with the SAE's i'm using the Intercept album to hopefully keep the coins blast white.

    one thing you might consider is that the coins wer'e contaminated by something before they were placed in the album. in actuality, the albums and the material they are constructed from should only prevent harmful gas from reaching a coin enclosed by it. i would assume that a coin enclosed in the album with a harmful substance on it would progress as if it were outside of the folder. although it isn't a practice i've adopted yet, if this type of thing seems to be a problem it may be helpful to rinse a coin in acetone prior to inserting it in a folder. at least then you'd know any change was a result of the folder and not a prior contaminant already on the coin.

    best of luck with the folks at Intercept Shield. please keep us informed and hold your cool when you talk with them. remember, you'll always catch more flies with sugar than you will with vinegar!!!image

    al h.image

    image
  • GilbertGilbert Posts: 1,533 ✭✭✭
    Please, please, please contact InterceptShield and let us know the response.

    I have been curious as to the protection supposedly offered by these albums. Wasn't there a big "todo" regarding the intercept slabs when they first came out? Maybe the first albums also were less than advertised.

    Seriously though, please keep us informed what the "company's" take on this is.
    Gilbert
  • trozautrozau Posts: 3,455 ✭✭✭
    Do you think it is because of the direct contact between the coin and cardboard used to make the album? What about the intercept shield lined boxes that hold slabbed coins in individual mini-boxes also lined with intercept shield? I have to check mine at the vault and see about moving them into the regular slabbed coin plastic boxes just to play safe. image
    trozau (troy ounce gold)
  • How old is the intercept shield album (2 years old, or so) ?

    Were these coins in another album before you placed them in the intercept shield album ?
    My eBay Items

    I love Ike dollars and all other dollar series !!!

    I also love Major Circulation Strike Type Sets, clad Washingtons ('65 to '98) and key date coins !!!!!

    If ignorance is bliss, shouldn't we have more happy people ??
  • IrishMikeIrishMike Posts: 7,738 ✭✭✭
    I only have one intercept album, that is for my au/bu IHC collection and they have been in there for two years with no apparent change in the color or toning of the coins. The memorial lincolns in my Whitman are another story, they have turned into wild reds and blues.

    Sorry to hear about your quarters, but I wonder if they was some environmental things going on.
  • critocrito Posts: 1,735
    I'll call them Tues. But as mentioned previously, I assembled two sets simultaneously, one in a Whitman and one in the Intercept. While I did get the coins from different sources, I bought TWO from each source. The odds of only the ones I put in the Intercept album being contaminated, while the others from the same source weren't, seems near impossible to me.

    The problem I can readily see with these albums is they only nuetralize gases coming into the album from the outside environment. If the paper pages themselves are contaminated, the gas would have to travel over the coins and escape into the box before being nuetralized. That's the most likely explaination IMHO.
  • pmh1nicpmh1nic Posts: 3,125 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I would think that coins stored in a controlled environment (approx. 70°C, 60% RH) should not tone that aggressively in such a short period of time unless some aggressive chemical agent either on the coins or in the surrounding environment is causing it. If only the coins in that one album toned (I'm assuming those coins come from different sources) while the other coins stored under the same conditions (except for the intercept shields) didn't it would point a finger towards some problem with that particular set of intercept shields.

    It's possible that the shields were somehow contaminated. I know the people that manufacture them may say that's impossible but having worked in a manufacturing environment make precision electronic components for 25 years I've seen on numerous occassions things that happen that were said to be impossible to happen.

    I would definitely contact the manufacturer of the Intercept Shields and relay the story to them. They shoud be able to conduct (or have an outside lab conduct) a chemical analysis to determine what caused the toning on the affected set of coins.
    The longer I live the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice is it possible for an empire to rise without His aid? Benjamin Franklin
  • greghansengreghansen Posts: 4,301 ✭✭✭
    Man, I'm not happy to read this since I use Intercept products myself. I agree Crito that the toning is not attractive and I would be pretty steamed about the situation.

    Greg Hansen, Melbourne, FL Click here for any current EBAY auctions Multiple "Circle of Trust" transactions over 14 years on forum

  • TypetoneTypetone Posts: 1,622
    Those pieces look a lot like some of the early IKE silver proofs that were contaminated by the government plastic holders. Could be a bad intercept shield book. Please let us know what they say.

    Greg
  • This is starting to scare me alot.image
  • cladkingcladking Posts: 28,305 ✭✭✭✭✭
    If they look like this in a short time then they'll look much worse in the future.

    I'm always afraid of new products, especially those with big claims. It will be
    interesting to see how this comes out.

    Were the storage conditions poor? I do understand they were the same. Did
    the silver coins also tarnish?

    Good luck.
    Tempus fugit.
  • This is why I like slabs and then the secondary layer of plastic that is the PCGS or NGC box.
    There is nothing like two layers of thick plastic. I agree with Cladking, I don't care how many Lucent technology people or NASA scientists tested this Intercept Shield, I'll take the two layers of thick plastic anyday!!
  • GeomanGeoman Posts: 2,491 ✭✭✭
    Yes, as others have been saying, please get ahold of IS and let us know what they say, and the outcome. A lot of us do store coins that way, and we need to know.

    Know, I only have my coins in 2x2's IS, and not that actual album. So if I am reading this correct, you have your coins in the actual album, and not the 2x2's. Is this correct? Also, anyone here have any problems with just the 2x2's, and not the album?
  • EVillageProwlerEVillageProwler Posts: 5,859 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Crito,

    Sorry to hear of this; I hope you get some measure of satisfaction, and please keep us informed with the details as you are able...

    EVP

    How does one get a hater to stop hating?

    I can be reached at evillageprowler@gmail.com

  • Cam40Cam40 Posts: 8,146
    I hope I,m wrong about this but I would think any forecoming info you get from the I.S. people will prove
    unsatisfatory to you.

    `Problems with our product? No way. It must be your storage techniques and the environment you stored them in`

    Sorry to hear about the unwanted toning. On the bright side, someone around here may see this as `great`
    and offer to purchase your `fugly` set....at a discount ofcourse. If that offer comes in, ask for a premium,not a discount.

    Or you could always dip them in a weak dip so as not to strip much if any luster.

    Good luck on whatever happens from here.

  • Stick with the tried and true, Airtites, Slabs etc.... Sounds like a gamble that didnt pay, you win some, you lose some!
    You can fool man but you can't fool God! He knows why you do what you do!
  • BTW, what difference does it make where the coins were! The Intercept Shield didnt do the job it was intended for, and may have cause the haze, what a waste!
    You can fool man but you can't fool God! He knows why you do what you do!
  • EVillageProwlerEVillageProwler Posts: 5,859 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I should remind everyone that the Intercept Shield technology is designed to prevent the onset of toning from external material. But, if there already was surface matter on the coin at the time of encapsulation into the IS holder, then the technology would not prevent that.

    This is similar to the typical PCGS and NGC holders in that the sonic seal is quite tight and should do an excellent job of protecting a pristine coin that has been entombed inside. However, if a nice looking coin actually has crud (that is invisible to the naked eye) on it, then it can damage the coin and the holder will not help.

    The IS holder has one advantage over the PCGS and NGC holders: it also helps to neutralize the air that is within the plastic chamber. However, this still cannot neutralize any foreign substance that is already on the coin.

    Remember that dip residue is frequently very hard to detect until after it starts to haze the coin...

    EVP

    How does one get a hater to stop hating?

    I can be reached at evillageprowler@gmail.com

  • I'm very concerned about whats being said here.

    There was another thread earlier this month concerning proper storage techniques for coins and it was suggested that intercept shields and boxes were a better way to go then the plastic pcgs or ngc boxes especially in the conditions of a safty depost box in the vault, so I bought one and switched my best slabbed coins to it from one of my blue plastic storage boxes, well, did I do the right thing ? Or should I switch them back ?

    Les
    The President claims he didn't lie about taxes for those earning less then $250,000 a year with public mandated health insurance yet his own justice department has said they will use the right of the government to tax when the states appeals go to court.
  • EVillageProwlerEVillageProwler Posts: 5,859 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Les,

    I have all my slabbed coins in Intercept Shield boxes, and then they are in the 10-pack bigger IS boxes. The only coin that has turned is one that already had crud on the surface of the coin.

    EVP

    How does one get a hater to stop hating?

    I can be reached at evillageprowler@gmail.com

  • well, this figures. I have a complete set of Roosies, Jeffersons, and SAE's in Intercept Shield albums, and my Washingtons and Lincolns are getting pretty far back. I just hate the looks of the other albums, but may have to change. Will be interested to see what they say.

    TB
  • Crito:
    Just trying to play detective here so just tolerate my ramblings for an instant. Can you remember when you actually placed the coins in the intercept shield folders. Could anything come to mind such as you just ate bar-b-que ribs or painted your house or any other such activity prior to the actual insertion of the coins into the album? I'm thinking that there must be some sort of scientific explanation for the haze and toning. If the problem were to lie with the IS, all comparable coins in their albums would be showing the same symptoms. You may be one of the first to discover this anomilty but if the problem is with the product, there should be an avalanche of complaints on the horizon. IMHO
  • topstuftopstuf Posts: 14,803 ✭✭✭✭✭
    For 75 years or so, MANILA envelopes were used. Toning? Yep? Nice toning? Mostly.
    Gotta look at em once in a while.
    There is also a line of white envelopes with flannel lining. Never had trouble with those.
    Coins are chemically active items. Even gold to some extent.
    Slabs should be best.
    BUT........
    It is hard for me to believe that the old MYLAR cardboard 2x2 holders (with FOUR staples) can be improved upon.
    When done properly, the Mylar film really hugs those coins.
    Putting them in a box makes them settle lower and leave air gaps.
    But I have had no changes for YEARS with Mylar 2x2's and the 2x2's in ..... VINYL..... 20 pocket pages.
    They lay flat and stay tight on the rims. Even when in close proximity to the vinyl pocket.

    But they are in a safe at room temp and not mishandled.

    ??????????????????
  • critocrito Posts: 1,735
    I've been using ICG Intercept boxes for my slabs, including some silver proofs, with no bad effects thus far. And at the risk of sounding like my short-term memory is shot, let me say again that my Statehood quarter Intercept album, containing both clad and silver proofs, is perfectly fine, no toning at all. I think I just got one from a bad batch. I remember that the initial release of the albums was delayed because of problems with their manufacturer in China. I'm just sort of paranoid now. The silver Statehood quarters would be quite expensive for me to replace.
  • critocrito Posts: 1,735
    "such as you just ate bar-b-que ribs or painted your house or any other such activity prior to the actual insertion of the coins into the album?"

    hehe, nope, no barbacue sauce on them image I wash my hands before handling any collectible coin. In fact, because the holes are so tight, I used a ziplock baggie, turned inside out, as a glove to push them in. I literally don't even breath on them, turning my head away to exhale. That's how careful I've been with these coins, which makes the end result all the more disappointing. image
  • Cam40Cam40 Posts: 8,146
    I used a ziplock baggie, turned inside out, as a glove to push them in

    hmmm that bit of information may be relavent to the symptoms your experiencing.


    just a guess.
  • critocrito Posts: 1,735
    Again, the coins in the Statehood quarter album are fine. The proceedure I used is identical. Ziplock baggies are safe, I've stored red cents in them for a decade without any change. Safer than some of the oily flips I used back then, for sure image I even put all my submissions in ziplock baggies, primarily to keep water out. 15 out of 19 modern proofs I sent PCGS came back 69DCAM, and I still have a couple of them here and they haven't changed either, after about a year of storage. I'm pretty sure it's something in the paper. Just not sure if the others haven't gone bad because I air them out regularly, or if it's specific to the batch that one album came from. Will let everyone know what the intercept people say on Tuesday.
  • Cam40Cam40 Posts: 8,146
    ok , sorry, scratch that idea then.

    all I can think of is they got hazing from a combo of heat and moisture.
    maybe the whitman holder handle these elements better?

    just trying to help.image
  • BigEBigE Posts: 6,949 ✭✭✭
    I got the answer to this !!!!!!!!!!! Intercept Shield is forming a condom around your coin because a virus is nearby---------------BigE
    I'm glad I am a Tree
  • critocrito Posts: 1,735
    No problem... I'm having one of those days image This friggin' 256MB CompactFlash card I just bought isn't working right with my Coolpix 4300 camera. Can take pictures on it, but when I plug in the USB cable can't transfer the images to my PC. Works fine with the 128MB card though. Think I'm gonna go ballistic shortly. image
  • Cam40, Food containers cannot contain PVC!
    You can fool man but you can't fool God! He knows why you do what you do!
  • Crito, did you talk to Intercept Shield people yet? Am curious what they have to say. Please keep us informed.

    TB
  • cladkingcladking Posts: 28,305 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i> I used a ziplock baggie, turned inside out, as a glove to push them in

    hmmm that bit of information may be relavent to the symptoms your experiencing.


    just a guess. >>



    Was the same baggie used for both sets? Could the baggie have been used and
    hence contaminated?
    Tempus fugit.
  • I have had a different problem with these albums. Particularly the ones with a larger number of pages. The pages have a tendency to bow considerably as the albums contain more coins. Further, the green facing is not attached to teh core material very well, and you end up with the facing being loose in the center of the page.

    Also, the printing is not registered very well, as the dates are not centered beneath the hole well on many albums, most notably, IHCs.

    What I do like about them is the outer hard cover and color combination, it gives a high perceived quality, but overall, I doubt I would buy another.
    "I want to die peacefully in my sleep like my Grandfather did, as opposed to screaming in terror like his passengers."
  • critocrito Posts: 1,735
    I never called them and have removed the coins that were salvageable. I figured the conversation would probably be similar to what's happened here; the album would be the last possibility, and I really didn't feel like discussing whether moon beams caused it.

    As a side note, I noticed a similar problem with some proof cents in a new whitman album I have. In this case they toned a hazy, but vibrant, blue. Even more disturbing, when I rinsed them with acetone, they turned PURPLE. So whoever it was here that warned about acetone and copper: I stand corrected. You were right, I was wrong. They are somewhat attractive, though image

Leave a Comment

BoldItalicStrikethroughOrdered listUnordered list
Emoji
Image
Align leftAlign centerAlign rightToggle HTML viewToggle full pageToggle lights
Drop image/file