Coin Care
...now browsing by category
Coin Care
Storing Rolls of Uncirculated Coins!
Saturday, April 18th, 2009
Rolls of Presidential Dollar Coins
The QUESTION: I purchased a few mint rolls of the New Presidential Dollars and would like to know the best way to store them, so the end coins on the rolls do not tarnish or become oxidized over the years while in storage.
The ANSWER:What may appear to be a simple and short question actually has an interesting but more complex answer than you might think.
The first thing to mention is that the paper that the coins are rolled in can actually pose a threat to your coins so it is not only those coins on the ends of each roll that might tarnish, but all the coins may, over time become toned or spotted by virtue of being in contact with the paper wrapper that surrounds the coins.
Paper must be acid and lignin free. By virtue of the manufacturing process and the types of materials used, the paper may be acidic in nature. Paper used to wrap coins is a wood pulp based paper that still contains the lignin. Lignin is the material found in a tree that naturally binds the wood together. When Lignin decomposes, it forms acidic compounds that will then destroy the cellulose in the paper. That degredation to an acidic compound then effects the paper which can and often does, damage coins.
The storage of coins can best be accomplished by placing them in plastic tubes that are made to be safe when in contact with coins. In the hobby, we call these “coin safe” tubes. These tubes are sold in different sizes to accommodate the different sizes of coins and the number of coins per roll. You would need coin tubes for “Small Sized Dollar Coins” such as the Susan B. Anthony dollars, the Sacagawea dollar coins and of course, the New Presidential Dollars.
The type of plastic used to manufacture the tubes is extremely important as some types of PVC plastics that contain plasticizers (softeners) use compounds that can leach out of the plastic and damage your coins.
Chemicals used as softeners and found in PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride) holders can react with the metals in coins and cause a form of corrosion to take place, resulting in the creation of an ugly green substance that will be visible on the surface of the coin. It is not unusual to see, what is known as PVC damage on copper and silver coins that have been stored in plastic “flips” made of PVC. You might even see a white colored haze on some coins.
Coin Safe - Plastic Storage Tubes
Your local coin dealer can steer you toward coin tubes made of plastics that are safe for the storage of your New Presidential Dollars. I find that for convenience and safety, good quality, square shaped tubes work well. They are made of a safe plastic. The interior size is closer to the size of the coin and this creates a nice seal around the coins as there is a minimal amount of air trapped inside the tube with your coins. The fact that the seal is very tight in the square shaped tubes would mean that you would have to remove the paper from around the coins. The round shaped tubes have a little more clearance on the inside and although you might be able to do it, rolls still wrapped in the paper may get stuck inside the tube.
The next thing to mention is that the “coin safe tubes” are only the beginning. Although they are extremely important, you want to be sure that the environment the tubes are placed in is “coin friendly”.
Temperature, Humidity and Light are all important factors when protecting coins. Steady moderate to low temperatures are the best. Humidity should be as low as possible. Packets of silica gel, can be placed in the area that you store your coins. Do not place the silica gel in the tubes with the coins. Avoid light altogether and keep your coins in a safe, dark place. A small safe would be great for storage of your coins.
Whether or not you keep the coins wrapped or unwrapped is up to you. There are collectors of Uncirculated Rolls that like the coins to remain in their original wrappers. Those collectors understand that there may be some spotting or tarnishing of the coins.
There are other collectors that are more interested in the overall condition of the coins and how much luster is retained after years of storage. Those collectors are not too worried about the wrappers being there.
There are some collectors that keep the coins safely in the storage tubes after they carefully remove them from the wrappers and then keep the wrappers as well.
If you would like to keep your coins in the wrappers, I would first find appropriately sized, “coin safe tubes” to store the coins in. I would then obtain some Brilliant Uncirculated quarter dollars from the same source you obtained the Presidential dollar coins. I would then carefully place quarter dollars down inside the ends of each roll to act as an extra seal. I would then place the rolls inside the tubes and store them as described above.
I hope this helps!
Using Diagnostics to Identify Die Varieties : Part 3
Thursday, April 2nd, 2009Since Die Varieties can be traced back to individual dies or die pairs, we can use that knowledge to attribute certain die varieties. We can compare one coin to another in order to look for the details that we suspect are characteristics of a particular die variety. Those details are expected to be exactly the same on each coin and if the details are essentially identical then it is possible to establish that a coin was struck by the same die or die pair as another coin. That is what makes a die variety a die variety!
Let me first say that “The Cherrypickers’ Guide to RARE DIE VARIETIES” Fourth Edition – Volume 1, by Fivaz and Stanton as Edited by Mike Ellis, has a notation under this one that suggests a theory of a “well placed die chip”. It is my personal opinion as well as that of many specialists that these 1997 Doubled Ear cents are indeed doubled dies.
1997 Lincoln Cent - Doubled Die Obverse - Doubled Ear
Note that the extra earlobes to the south of the primary ear lobe, taking into account some slight variance in lighting, are identical on each of these three coins. When looking for the doubled ear 1997 DDO, the ears must look identical to these or it is simply not the right one.
Grading Your Coins !
Thursday, April 2nd, 2009Grading coins is a subjective thing. What does that mean?
Well, grading is our way of labeling the condition of a coin so that it can be described to other collectors. Here is what makes our current coin grading system a little difficult for most people. Actually, let me backtrack a little first. In the early days of collecting, there were descriptions used like FAIR, GOOD, VERY GOOD, FINE, VERY FINE, EXTREMELY FINE, ABOUT UNCIRCULATED and UNCIRCULATED. That wasn’t too bad as there were guidelines for each coin series that made assigning a grade to a coin fairly cut and dry. You could use the horn on a BUFFALO nickel for example to decide how worn one of those coins was. The more horn visible, the better the coin as there was less wear to the high point of the design, which was the horn on the Buffalo. People began to notice that the methods of grading coins didn’t always work. If a coin was not well struck or if the dies used to strike a coin was worn, all the detail might not be as strong as it should be on that coin. So an UNCIRCULATED Buffalo or INDIAN HEAD five-cent coin could have only enough of the horn showing to merit a VERY FINE grade. There was something not right about that system. While it worked much of the time, it had some serious flaws.
What was developed over time , and here is where grading gets tough, is a scale with 70 (seventy) different points on it that can be used to assign a grade to a coin. Developed in 1949 by Dr. William Sheldon, it is called the Sheldon Grading Scale. For example, there are now 11 (eleven) different and individual grades for what used to be UNCIRCULATED coins. They range from a low end UNCIRCULATED called MS-60 to a PERFECT UNCIRCULATED coin called MS-70. MS stands for MINT STATE.
Grades range from AG (About Good), G (Good), VG (Very Good), F (Fine), VF (Very Fine), EF (Extremely Fine), AU (About Uncirculated), then UNC or MS (Uncirculated or Mint State).
That means you may see something like G-4 (Good-4) or G-6 (Good-6) for coins that are in different grades of what used to be simply GOOD condition. You might see coins that are UNCIRCULATED graded as MS-60 (Mint State-60), MS-63 (Mint State-63) or MS-69 (Mint State-69). Each difference in grade due to a minutely better standard of condition on a coin.
Coins are generally collected from a low grade of AG-3 up to a high grade of MS-70. MS-70 graded coins are extremely rare as it is almost impossible for a coin made for regular circulation to be 100% perfect in every way. You nust be cautious when looking at or purchasing MS-70 coins as this is where the “subjective” part comes into play. The term “subjective” means open to interpretation or opinion. One persons MS-70 can be another person’s MS-65 and there can be a huge difference in the cost of a coin based upon its grade.
A coin can only be properly graded if the person or persons doing the grading is an expert in the field of grading which makes their opinions more valid than the average collector or coin dealer. Many reputable dealers will seek the opinion of a reputable THIRD PARTY GRADER in order to have their coins conditions appraised.
The average person who is not familiar with coins will usually say that their coin is in “Mint Condition” or is in “Excellent Shape” if they can simply see some details on the coin. In many cases what is thought to be in Excellent Condition by a novice collector is not much more than VG-8 or VERY GOOD to a collector. The grade of a coin is extremely important in allowing collectors to determine its worth. You should try to learn as much about grading coins as you can before you venture into the world of coin collecting. You can ask about grading right here!
Copy Protected by