About Coin Collecting Albums
Coin collecting albums are a popular way for numismatists and amateur coin collectors to display and preserve their coin collections. Coin collecting albums also categorize and organize coins. This makes it easy to see which coins are owned and which ones are needed to complete a set. When coin collectors talk about filling a "hole" in their collection, they are talking about a hole in a coin collecting album page that has no coin in it.
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History
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Coin collecting albums evolved from coin collecting boards. Before the 1940s, coin collectors would press coins into flat cardboard cards with circular spaces the size of the appropriate coin. In 1940, Richard Yeoman of Whitman Publishing developed folding coin collecting boards and spearheaded the effort to create coin collecting albums of numerous varieties.
Considerations
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Whitman still sells folding cardboard coin collecting albums along with its current parent company H.E. Harris. They are primarily found in bookstores and are marketed to beginning coin collectors. However, there are several drawbacks to folding cardboard coin collecting albums. They offer very little protection for coins since they are pressed into a hole with fingers and are not covered. There are also chemicals in the cardboard that can tone the coins. Folding cardboard coin collecting albums also restrict your view to one side of the coin since the other side is facing the cardboard.
Function
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Coin collecting album makers developed a solution to the shortcomings of folding cardboard coin collecting albums. Plastic slide coin collecting albums have holes that go all the way through the page. The coins are held in with clear plastic slides on both sides. This allows collectors to see both sides of the coins and prevents unnecessary touching. Damaging acid and PVC were removed from the slides and cardboard to protect the coins. Dansco Coin Albums and Littleton Coin Company are two of the most popular makers of clear slide coin collecting albums.
Features
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Many serious coin collectors believe that clear slide coin collecting albums do not offer enough protection for mint state coins. They fear the slides create microscopic scratches on the coins as they slide over them. Many of these coin collectors use AirTite coin albums. This system snaps each coin into a custom-sized round plastic cover. It is transparent so both sides of the coin can be viewed and handled without actually touching the coin. These holders are then placed inside albums for viewing.
Prevention/Solution
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The most serious numismatists own large numbers of certified coins. These coins are sealed in plastic slabs to preserve their quality, verify their grade and guarantee their authenticity. These coins are "slabbed" by grading companies like PCGS, NGC, PCI and ANACS. The company Eagle makes coin collecting slab albums that hold certified coins. Each page holds nine slabbed coins. You can see both sides, categorize them any way you want, and feel safe in the knowledge that your coins have maximum protection.
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