Coin and paper money storage

hiijacker

What type of envoronment is it best to store coins and paper mone?

Do you think a cedar lined chest is a good idea?

Cladiator

Idealy it should be a dry location. Moisture and humidity will have adverse effects on coins and paper money. There are also issues of chemicles released from certain types of wood. A metal safe deposit box with some desecants in it is nearly perfect.

hiijacker

I was looking to store in my basement which is cooler than the rest of my home. I figure a cedar lined chst would protect the coins from humidity and moisture more than a safe would.

RBB617

Wasn't there a board member a couple of years ago who swore that wood was not a good storage vehicle for coins? I can't think of his screen name, but you could probably find the threads with a search.

Rarity

I used to keep my NGC Proof Franklins in Post Office paper box, leaving the box in a wooden cabinet in my garage. When I checked the coins about a year later, all Franklins had developed dark color toning around the rim. Bank's safe deposit box, I believe, is best.

MrHalfDime

I would strongly recommend against storing coins in any wooden storage container, as many woods release chemicals into the air which are detrimental to coins, as Cladiator stated. This would be particularly true in a basement, which is typically cooler, and therefore likely to have a higher relative humidity.

I would recommend reading Susan Maltby's monthly column "Preserving Collectibles" in Coin World. She often discusses this very subject, and she can speak much more intelligently about the potential dangers of storing coins in wooden containers than I. I do recall reading her discussion on this very subject within the last year.

MikeKing

I don't know where you live, but if your currency ends up growing mold on it, you'll never forgive yourself.
If you're going to store in your basement, wood will not seal out moisture. Get a metal box or a safe, have all currency in mylar envelopes in a holder that is archival quality and won't allow the currency to bend. Put lots of dessicant in the box/safe and check it periodically for 'recharging' by heating it in the oven (usually the manufacturer has a piece of paper or something that turns blue when the desicant is completely dry, and becomes less blue and more pink as the dessicant takes in water).

Cladiator

A tip about personal or home safes...

Don't use one that is marketed as fireproof or fire resistant if you're going to put coins or paper money in it. One of the multiple methods manufacturers use to fireproof these safes is filling the insides of the walls with moisture laden substances. This moisture will seep into the inner space of the safe.

drsvenghali

Ideal storage conditions for coins and currency are not the same. Although humidity is detrimental to coins, lack of it can make currency brittle. Currency should be stored at about 50% humidity. You obviously don't want 100% or (as pointed out above) you create a haven for mold, but extremely low humidity levels can destroy paper just as easily.

MikeKing

<< <i>Ideal storage conditions for coins and currency are not the same. Although humidity is detrimental to coins, lack of it can make currency brittle. Currency should be stored at about 50% humidity. You obviously don't want 100% or (as pointed out above) you create a haven for mold, but extremely low humidity levels can destroy paper just as easily. >>



hmmm...I store stamps, currency and coins together (never checked the humidity, just keep tons of dessicant around). Would 50% humidity have any negative effect on encapsulated coins?

Theop

Has anyone thought about or tried storing coins in those vacuum-sealed plastic bags? FoodSaver, etc.?

Seems like it would solve the humidity problem but would require resealing every time you took them out to view.

MrSpud

<< <i>Wasn't there a board member a couple of years ago who swore that wood was not a good storage vehicle for coins? I can't think of his screen name, but you could probably find the threads with a search. >>



That was magikbilly

Basically, wood can give off acetic acid and other corrosive gasses if the humidity goes above 40%RH which isn't good for coins or currency. Like others said, coins store best in low humidity, paper in moderate humidity.

Here's some info on coin storage from the book Coin Preservation Handbook by Charles Frank.


And familiarity with the info from the paragraph titled other degratative materials from the same book might not hurt. If possible, avoid using those materials and avoid storing those materials in the same container you are storing the coins in. I've taken to storing my better coins in heatsealed Safety Flips or airtites in jars of metal cans with dessicant.

FoundingFather

Consider including a fireproof safe in your plans! Waterproof too, if you can afford it.

hiijacker

Okay, so basically coins and currency should not be stored in the same environment. Do you see any harm in storing encapsulated coins or coins placed in a zip-loc baggie inside of a ceder chest?
I was planning on storing iems in a chest like this.

Chest

Steve27

I would place the baggie inside a piece of Tupperware along with a desiccant before placing it that chest.

MrHalfDime

You seem determined to store your coins in a cedar chest, despite the nearly unanimous recommendations against it. Cedar chests like the one you cited are better left for a bride's dowry, and not for coins. A word to the wise.

Barndog

you'd be much better off with this arrangement:

Cladiator

<< <i>you'd be much better off with this arrangement: >>

Is the girl included?

hiijacker

I know. But I need to place these coins in a place whcih will satisfy my wife. She is sick of having coins all over the house.

The most valuable coins will be put in a safety deposit box. i just want a place to put my other coins.

So I will put loose coins in zip locks and tupperware with dessicant.

I just want final confirmation that slabbed coins can be put straight in, and will not be harmed as they are airtight.

Cladiator

<< <i>So I will put loose coins in zip locks and tupperware >>

You'll likely have a problem with PVC contamination if you store raw coins that way.

Cladiator

<< <i>I just want final confirmation that slabbed coins can be put straight in, and will not be harmed as they are airtight. >>

Slabs are not airtight so we can't give you any confirmation. The gasses let off by the wood will indeed get through your slabs and onto the coin.

Barndog

if you have a bunch of coins that are "loose" then they likely would be better off here

Barndog

<< <i><< you'd be much better off with this arrangement: >>

Is the girl included? >>



Only at my bank, where customer service is number 1!

jonyyy

i think the money bank which i saw on https://www.wood-presents.com/piggy-banks/ fit to all sorts of money

ms71

Cedar has high amounts of tannic acid (tannin), as does oak. Not a good idea to keep coins in a closed environment with cedar, the surfaces of the coins will almost certainly suffer.

CoinHoarder

Fishpro

I use a gun safe but put 2 opened boxes of soda and about a pound of rice in an opened dish. With the safe in the living area of the house.