Caring for your Collection

To uphold your coin’s value, it is important to keep them as protected as possible. Any scratches, smearing or discolouration could cause the value of your coin to drop. A coin collection is one of the easiest collections to manage. Whereas many collections might require you to keep the items clean, with a coin collection it is advised you don’t clean your coins at all.

How can coins be damaged?

There are a number of ways that your coins could become damaged. The most common cause of damage is by handling your coins. By handling your coins you can cause scratches and the wear of the design on the coin.

You shouldn’t need to handle your coins at all, although obviously, this is not completely avoidable. You might need to hold your coins when you are putting them into new casing. If you do decide to pickup a coin from your collection, it is best to either use soft cloth gloves or specially designed tongs.

When picking up coins you should always remember to hold them by the side of the coin. This will cause the least amount of damage to the coin. The front and back of the coin are the most fragile parts of the coin and will easily wear.

Metals can oxidise and change colours when they are exposed to the natural elements. This won’t happen immediately, but you will slowly start to see your coin discolour.

Oxidation is a chemical process that happens when a metal has been exposed to gas. Originally it was believed that oxygen was the only gas that caused oxidation, although the official meaning it’s the process where a compound undergoes a reaction that removes an electron. With coin oxidation it will develop an oxide layer on the surface of the coin. Some oxidation reactions with silver can produce a protective layer others, like rust oxide, produce a corrosive layer.

Displaying Coins

Many people enjoy displaying their coin collections and showing off their hard work. There are many different options for displaying your coins. If you are a frequent coin show exhibitor, then you would want a solution that would fully protect your coins but also allow you to transport your collection with ease. One solution for this is by using protective coin wallets or sleeves. These will not only keep your coins safe during the journey, but also when people look through your collection. The protective covering will stop any fluids getting on your coins. It was also stop anyone from handling your coins and damaging them.

Another way to store your coins when attending coin shows is to keep them in a coin album. This will allow people to look through your collection with ease. One trouble is that if the album becomes too heavy it could damage some of the coins within it.

If you are planning on keeping your collection at home then you can invest in some nice felt-lined draws. It is recommended that even if you store your collection in these draws that you also keep each coin in some kind of protective casing. Not only will this protect your coins from the elements, but it will also protect them from knocking against each other.

Other ways to store your collection

If you are not a fan of showing off your impressive coin collection to everyone, then there are plenty of other ways you can store your collection.

For non-precious metals or those with a lower value, acid-free paper sleeves or envelopes are a great place to store your coins. Folders and albums are another way to store a variety of different sets and series of coins. These storage solutions should never be used for valuable coins.

Small PVC-free plastic bags are another storage solution for non-valuable coins. Even though you might have enough room in these small plastic bags to fit multiple coins, it is not advised to store coins together. This is because if the bags are constantly being moved then the coins are likely to hit each other and cause serious damage.

It can be very tempting to store a complete series or set in the same place, which is why many people will store them in tubes. Although this does keep your coins away from oxidation it does not protect them from each other.

For relatively valuable coins hard plastic wallets are ideal. This will not only keep the coins from oxidising but it will also protect them from anything damaging them, especially if you were to accidentally drop them or drop something on the collection.

Coin slabs are the ultimate storage solution for coins. These are hard plastic containers that often snap shut, keeping your coin safe from damage. Inside the slabs is an insert that will hold your coin in place. There are a number of different sized slabs that cater to the wide range of sized coins. It is important that you purchase the correct sized slab; this is to make sure your coin doesn’t come free and hit the sides of the casing causing serious damage.

There are a number of coin storage solutions, which have been specially designed to keep your coins safe. If you want to keep the value of your coins for as long as possible it is crucial that you invest in storage solutions for your coins.

Having a coin collection is one of the easiest to look after, especially if you invest in the correct and best storage solutions.  You won’t need to constantly clean your collection to make it look shiny and new, as long as you keep them safe they will keep their value. You can focus on adding to your collection rather than maintaining it.