Hello Everybody
Argblat
Posts: 8 ✭✭
Hi there,
I'm new to the message board. When I was a child I found my late grandfather's coin collection in my grandmother's closet and thought that it was pretty cool so I started sifting through his loose extras (wheat pennies mostly) and filling up my own books. I recently inherited that collection after the passing of my father and have gotten back into collecting.
I have two questions that I would love to get some advice on.
The first one is how to know when to send a coin out for professional grading. My grandfather's collection includes a vast array of Barber Halves, Walking Liberty Halves, Morgan Dollar, Peace Dollar etc. I also recently found a 1982 Roosevelt Dime with no mintmark sifting through an old jar of change. While I can (roughly) estimate the condition and see the price in the Red Book I really have no foundation upon which to evaluate if it is important to put these pieces "behind glass" so to speak.
The second question, which relates to the first, is how to know what storage device is appropriate for the coins. Almost everything in my grandfather's collection (and my much more modern collection) is in Whitman folders (the cardboard ones that I have seen referred to as "thumb-busters", heh). I recently moved a collection of Roosevelt Dimes I had put together as a child into a new book and, much to my chagrin, in pulling them out of the old book found that the folder itself had gunked up many of the coins! I'm very worried that I am inappropriately keeping these coins. Should I move everything into Dansco-style folders with the sliding plastic cover? I have seen people say that those too can damage coins by rubbing against the face of the coin.
I appreciate anyone taking the time to even scratch the surface of these questions. I'm sure that both have been discussed in detail and I'm more than happy to simply receive a link to an older post that covers them. I also wanted to introduce myself to the community.
Thanks in advance,
Michael
I'm new to the message board. When I was a child I found my late grandfather's coin collection in my grandmother's closet and thought that it was pretty cool so I started sifting through his loose extras (wheat pennies mostly) and filling up my own books. I recently inherited that collection after the passing of my father and have gotten back into collecting.
I have two questions that I would love to get some advice on.
The first one is how to know when to send a coin out for professional grading. My grandfather's collection includes a vast array of Barber Halves, Walking Liberty Halves, Morgan Dollar, Peace Dollar etc. I also recently found a 1982 Roosevelt Dime with no mintmark sifting through an old jar of change. While I can (roughly) estimate the condition and see the price in the Red Book I really have no foundation upon which to evaluate if it is important to put these pieces "behind glass" so to speak.
The second question, which relates to the first, is how to know what storage device is appropriate for the coins. Almost everything in my grandfather's collection (and my much more modern collection) is in Whitman folders (the cardboard ones that I have seen referred to as "thumb-busters", heh). I recently moved a collection of Roosevelt Dimes I had put together as a child into a new book and, much to my chagrin, in pulling them out of the old book found that the folder itself had gunked up many of the coins! I'm very worried that I am inappropriately keeping these coins. Should I move everything into Dansco-style folders with the sliding plastic cover? I have seen people say that those too can damage coins by rubbing against the face of the coin.
I appreciate anyone taking the time to even scratch the surface of these questions. I'm sure that both have been discussed in detail and I'm more than happy to simply receive a link to an older post that covers them. I also wanted to introduce myself to the community.
Thanks in advance,
Michael
0
Comments
Now, don't be in a hurry to do anything at all. Take your time. Don't clean any of them and don't store them
in those soft vinyl pouches.
If you can take pics of them, just post them here. Most of us use Photobucket for doing that as it is free and
relatively easy to use.
Learn, read and watch!
Good luck,
bob
- Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106-43 BC
....
Thanks for the response. I certainly have no intentions of attempting to clean any of the coins myself. Can you show me an example of what you are calling a "soft vinyl pouch" please?
When you guys show images of your coins on the site are you taking pictures with a digital camera or laying them on a flatbed scanner? Is there a post dedicated to this topic that I can read (I'm assuming that there probably is)
-Michael
<< <i>AUandAG,
Thanks for the response. I certainly have no intentions of attempting to clean any of the coins myself. Can you show me an example of what you are calling a "soft vinyl pouch" please?
When you guys show images of your coins on the site are you taking pictures with a digital camera or laying them on a flatbed scanner? Is there a post dedicated to this topic that I can read (I'm assuming that there probably is)
-Michael >>
Welcome to the forum.
You can buy non-PVC flips from any reputable dealer or on line coin supply house. Just be careful in transferring the coins. Use soft white gloves(also available at supply houses).
As far as taki9ng photos, a good digital camera with five or so megs should be OK. The lighting is the tricky part. It may take you many(dozens to hundreds) attempts to hone your skills. Photobucket is a fairly easy web site to use. Do a search on this forum for tips.
It's a tough call on when to slab and when not to. If you do any registry sets, well then you gotta. Keeping in mind the typical round trip cost of approximately $30 to get coins certified, then high value coins, keys, coins frequently counterfeited etc. benefit from slabbing.
As for storage and collections, low to med grade coins of lower value, certainly a Dansco album is fine, and maybe some higher grade coins as well. Higher grade silver coins will tone in a Dansco over time - if that's a problem for you, check out the newer inert Shield style albums.
These are just a few of my thoughts - you will get a lot of various opinions on this forum, so do what suits you best, have fun, and keep asking questions.
CoinSpace.com Founder
www.coinspace.com
Don't send anything anywhere
until you have the knowledge
so that
you do not waste your grading fees
you might learn how to tell an original (non-cleaned, non-colored, non-altered) coin
whose grade is such that
grading would be advisable
if you spend some time here,
you will learn by osmosis.
also, get some books to help you.
Does the '82-NMM have full or nearly full luster?
It's not terribly important to slab a coin like this but it is an easy one to
fake so even if they aren't out there now so it might need to be slabbed
to sell.
Hoard the keys.
Dansco-style albums can be safely used as long as you use care in putting your coins in them. Remove the front plastic slide, put the coin in and make sure it is fully inserted. The hole is deep enough so that you can make sure the top of the coin is not going to contact the front slide when you replace it. Use clean cotton gloves or something so that you don't put fingerprints on the coin's surface.
The only danger (which is slight) is allowing the top of the coin to protrude out from the album page, which might allow the plastic slide to contact the coin's surface when you put it back in. This danger is greatest for proof coins as they can be easily scuffed.
Regarding when to submit coins, I would not be in any hurry to do that.
You might also consider trying acetone to remove some of the gunk you found on the coins in the Whitman folders. It won't harm your coins but you can't scrub them - lightly rubbing with a Q-tip after soaking in acetone might give you good results. Remember to observe proper safety procedures as acetone can be dangerous if not used properly.
New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.
First I'm glad to see you already have a Red Book; it's not the best price guide, but it's a good start. The value of a coin can determined by two factors, the date/mint-mark combination and the condition. PCGS has recently provided a free "Photograde" guide for determining condition LINK. I suggest you use the Red Book to get a rough idea as to which coins might have the most potential value, then use Photograde to get a rough idea as to condition. As for slabbing, it really depends on the value of the coin.
"The second question, which relates to the first, is how to know what storage device is appropriate for the coins."
Dansco albums are better than folders, 2x2s are good for individual coins, as are Airtites; however, the most factor is probably storage in a cool dry area. I usually pack my albums in food storage "Ziplock" bags along with a desiccant, to ensure moisture is kept away from them.
Feel free to post pictures and ask questions, and as someone else said in anther thread, welcome to the zoo.
Mike
the usual stuff
Research
keep the cleaning chems in the cabinet
sort out any key dates
look for local club
hang out here and have fun !
Thanks for the coinspace site info.
Please visit my website Millcitynumismatics.com
I know, from reading other posts, that attempting to describe the coin is a waste of time (which makes sense) ... As per a couple of the many helpful comments on this thread, I will try to set up and take a picture of the coin to show you.
<< <i>Welcome aboard.
Does the '82-NMM have full or nearly full luster?
It's not terribly important to slab a coin like this but it is an easy one to
fake so even if they aren't out there now so it might need to be slabbed
to sell. >>
Thanks for the warm welcome. I love the coin you have chosen for your avatar. I dog-eared the page it's on in the red book when I first looked through it.
I really appreciate this post as it answers a lot of questions for me. I had read a blog or msg board post saying that Dansco albums were ok as long as you inserted your coins properly, but the person didn't take the time to describe exactly what that meant!
The coins in my collection that got gunked up were circulation quality dimes from the 2nd Roosevelt Dime book, so I'm just going to keep sorting through change and replace them. Are the new Whitman books better than the ones in the 80's (which is when I purchased and filled them) with regards to damaging coins like that? I sent an email to Whitman but only got a legalese cover their ass message back.
Seeing the dimes getting damaged, however, makes me nervous about my grandfathers coins. I'm thinking about buying Dansco's and moving them all to a safer home.
-Mike
<< <i>Welcome to the boards, Argblat!
Dansco-style albums can be safely used as long as you use care in putting your coins in them. Remove the front plastic slide, put the coin in and make sure it is fully inserted. The hole is deep enough so that you can make sure the top of the coin is not going to contact the front slide when you replace it. Use clean cotton gloves or something so that you don't put fingerprints on the coin's surface.
The only danger (which is slight) is allowing the top of the coin to protrude out from the album page, which might allow the plastic slide to contact the coin's surface when you put it back in. This danger is greatest for proof coins as they can be easily scuffed.
Regarding when to submit coins, I would not be in any hurry to do that.
You might also consider trying acetone to remove some of the gunk you found on the coins in the Whitman folders. It won't harm your coins but you can't scrub them - lightly rubbing with a Q-tip after soaking in acetone might give you good results. Remember to observe proper safety procedures as acetone can be dangerous if not used properly. >>
Thanks for the response. I had downloaded the iPhone App version of the PCGS Photograde last week and started to take a look. For the untrained eye such as I have, I find myself having a difficult time distinguishing exactly what the subtle differences are (in the pictures) between one grade and the next. I really wish that they would include some text notes that point out that things that kept it from the next grade higher and/or got it up from the next grade down. I also wish that they did not include highly toned coins randomly throughout the mix as, for me, it adds an additional variable to manage as I try to understand one grade from the next.
Do you have a desiccant of choice? Is there a thread regarding coin storage, zip lock bags, desiccant, etc that you can point me to?
Thanks,
Mike
<< <i>"The first one is how to know when to send a coin out for professional grading. My grandfather's collection includes a vast array of Barber Halves, Walking Liberty Halves, Morgan Dollar, Peace Dollar etc. I also recently found a 1982 Roosevelt Dime with no mintmark sifting through an old jar of change. While I can (roughly) estimate the condition and see the price in the Red Book I really have no foundation upon which to evaluate if it is important to put these pieces "behind glass" so to speak."
First I'm glad to see you already have a Red Book; it's not the best price guide, but it's a good start. The value of a coin can determined by two factors, the date/mint-mark combination and the condition. PCGS has recently provided a free "Photograde" guide for determining condition LINK. I suggest you use the Red Book to get a rough idea as to which coins might have the most potential value, then use Photograde to get a rough idea as to condition. As for slabbing, it really depends on the value of the coin.
"The second question, which relates to the first, is how to know what storage device is appropriate for the coins."
Dansco albums are better than folders, 2x2s are good for individual coins, as are Airtites; however, the most factor is probably storage in a cool dry area. I usually pack my albums in food storage "Ziplock" bags along with a desiccant, to ensure moisture is kept away from them.
Feel free to post pictures and ask questions, and as someone else said in anther thread, welcome to the zoo. >>