For those of you who have not yet run screaming for the exits, I promise this is the last post of this bunch.
Here is a slightly different
type of acquisition.
For a variety of reasons, mostly to do with space limitations, I started keeping many of my coins and
supplies in briefcases, specifically vintage briefcases of various sorts. The better ones for coins are particularly sturdy. I came upon the idea about 6 years ago only after thoughtlessly tossing out my Dad's old 1960s Samsonite hardsider. So, when I come across one at a flea market, I will examine it and sometimes I re-adopt one.
Last weekend, in the recycling
area of my building, I came across two Samsonite hard-siders, one with the rotor-combo and one with key locks. I think circa 1975 models. They
had been heavily used, I think by someone in an optical line of
work. They
had also been kept someplace very dusty for many years. Some of you will have seen such micro-dirt in briefcases; it is very difficult to remove.
On some past attempts, I gave up -- I have been unable to completely rid a case of mold or superfine dust or whatever.
These two at first did not look
good. I did not take "before" photos, but I did take "in media
res" photos. I was able to strip out the grungy, melting, fake-leather document pockets and do a deep cleaning. Then, I took heavy acrylic felt (the hobby store kind) and re-lined both the top and the bottom, with almost
complete coverage, sealing in any micro-whatevers that survived the Clorox. I used green felt on these.
The final photo shows these cases (bottom two) joining a predecessor (top). Eventually, before a final polish of the exterior, I will use a dremel tool to remove the prior owner's initials from the latch plates (thank you, D.G., wherever you are) and replace them with case numbers.