How to Care for a Coin Collection

Video Transcript

"Once you start a coin collection the most commonly asked question is how do I care for it? Hi I'm Rui and we are going to be talking about how to care for your coin collection. There are three things that can seriously damage coins. The first one is air. Air can easily oxidize a coin so it is important that the coins are sealed in some sort of casing to protect them from the air, the second is your environment. For example here in Florida our air is heavy with salt especially if you live near the water and salt air can be disastrous especially to any coin collection. If you live up North the dampness especially from Winters if they are kept in basements and those types of things can also be incredibly damaging to coins so make sure they are properly sealed and the third are the actual coin holders themselves, some are just incredibly bad for coins especially a number of the plastic coins. A number of the plastic coins basically start to deteriorate eventually over time and release toxins that can actually damage the surface of the coins. Here we have a wide variety of the coins and some of the casings that they are enclosed in. A number of these paper casings have for instance this coin here which is a 1927 Liberty 25 cent piece. This coin is encased in acid free paper like a wax type paper that is actually wrapped in the paper holder and this is a plastic coin holder that over time if you are going to keep coins for a long period of time you don't want to keep them in these types of holders because of the damaging components of the plastic that begins to deteriorate. These are sets that are commonly purchased. Coin sets again in plastic so your best bet is an airtight holder that is made of inert material that will be able to protect the coins from most of the elements that you have to worry about including the actual coin holders themselves. Those coin holders made of those materials are usually more expensive but in the long run they are well worth it if you keep your coins in pristine shape. Again I'm Rui and good luck collecting."