Classical Numismatics Discussion
  Welcome Guest. Please login or register. 10% Off Store-Wide Sale Until 2 April!!! Explore Our Website And Find Joy In The History, Numismatics, Art, Mythology, And Geography Of Coins!!! Expert Authentication - Accurate Descriptions - Reasonable Prices - Coins From Under $10 To Museum Quality Rarities Welcome Guest. Please login or register. 10% Off Store-Wide Sale Until 2 April!!! Explore Our Website And Find Joy In The History, Numismatics, Art, Mythology, And Geography Of Coins!!! Support Our Efforts To Serve The Classical Numismatics Community - Shop At Forum Ancient Coins

New & Reduced


Author Topic: Storage of a collection containing small and large coins  (Read 2424 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Olybrius-coins

  • Praetorian
  • **
  • Posts: 15
Storage of a collection containing small and large coins
« on: September 18, 2015, 12:16:39 am »
Hi

I'm collecting the portrait series of Roman personalities (emperors, empresses, other family members etc) and at the moment i present in chronological order.
Coins in my collection vary from sestertius size to small nummi.

At the moment i store my collection in 4x4 coin coin flips in a leather-bound coin album. I'm not entirely happy that I'm displaying my coins under 2 layers of plastic.

The idea of a metal coin case with velvet-lined trays is classy and appeals to me, but i have some concerns...

But I have concerns about coin cases - or any system with velvet trays:
- all the big coins would need to be together on trays for big coins (so I would not be able to present my emperors in chronological order)
- the nummi would roll around and maybe fall out and go missing when I transport the case

Has anyone else struggled with this problem and what was your solution?

(Apologies if this question has already been answered... I read a lot of the posts in this category, even did a search for "small coin storage", and couldn't find anything)

cheers
Greg Heinrich

Offline cmcdon0923

  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1148
Re: Storage of a collection containing small and large coins
« Reply #1 on: September 18, 2015, 12:22:14 am »
So it sounds like you are looking for a single solution to both house/display your collection AND to be able to transport it?  And by transporting it I mean not just moving it from point A to point B in your home, but rather transporting it when you go "out and about"?

Offline Olybrius-coins

  • Praetorian
  • **
  • Posts: 15
Re: Storage of a collection containing small and large coins
« Reply #2 on: September 18, 2015, 12:32:50 am »
Well yes. At the moment i can easily transport my coin album. It's just - coins inside plastic  ???

A case is also transportable - but coins roll around, and i can't keep chronological order when i have an AE4 of one emperor next to a big sestertius of his successor.
And the AE4s could just go missing.

Maybe there's no solution unless i relax my requirements?
Greg Heinrich

Offline Andrew McCabe

  • Tribunus Plebis Perpetuus
  • Procurator Monetae
  • Caesar
  • *****
  • Posts: 4651
    • My website on Roman Republican Coins and Books, with 2000 coins arranged per Crawford
Re: Storage of a collection containing small and large coins
« Reply #3 on: September 18, 2015, 03:57:57 am »
The solution I use to avoiding losing the tiny coins among the very big ones is to put the tiny ones (less than 18mm say) inside Lighthouse capsules and then place them in the same tray beside the big asses in chronological order. The capsule adds both width and thickness so the coins won't lose their place even if you jiggle the tray around. An abafil-type case with a top handle such as the 14 tray large box is a further guard against coins going hiding in the crevices.

Offline Olybrius-coins

  • Praetorian
  • **
  • Posts: 15
Re: Storage of a collection containing small and large coins
« Reply #4 on: September 18, 2015, 05:26:28 am »
Thanks Andrew!

I think I have my solution  +++
Greg Heinrich

Offline SC

  • Tribunus Plebis Perpetuus
  • Procurator Monetae
  • Caesar
  • *****
  • Posts: 6068
    • A Handbook of Late Roman Bronze Coin Types 324-395.
Re: Storage of a collection containing small and large coins
« Reply #5 on: September 18, 2015, 10:59:43 am »
On storage I was going to say exactly what Andrew did.  Certainly the capsules are great if you are going to do any transporting.  If not then you can just place the coins on the felt and the diameter doesn't matter much as they won't slide around a lot if the case is left static. 

However, that still created some frustration for me.  I have a similar collection to yours.  I tried to keep it to mostly large, and to a lesser extent middle, bronzes for most of the 1st to early 3rd century, though there are a few denarii in there too.  But then of course the diameter shrinks in the mid 3rd century and most of the fourth (although you can cover the tetrarchic period with large nummi / folles and the Theodosian with the AE2s).  The 5th century ones are all really tiny.  I keep them in a three tray wooden Leuchturm case which has large circular places with blue felt.  I had a nice handwritten round tag for each.  The tag was covered by the sestertii, asses, nummi and AE2s but was of course larger than the smaller coins.  That meant they sat on the paper tag and slid around with the slightest movement and just plain looked wrong to me.  Finally I took all the tags out and keep them in my old coin holder binder pages.

While we are on the topic of transporting coins I want to share my recent experience with moving.

I was posted home this summer from Vienna to Ottawa and thus faced with moving my collection.  My collection is very large.  Though I have many nice coins I have a huge number of not so nice or valuable coins - many many LRBCs, Chinese cash, etc.  Now that my coins are all in trays, including a half dozen of the large and heavy Biba trays, a bunch of wooden cases and over 100 of the individual leuchturm/lighthouse style trays it is a high weight, high volume collection.  It actually weighs well over 150 lbs, of which the vast bulk is made up of the weight of trays themselves.

As a result special shipping was out of the question.  It had to go with the household effects which, including car, went in a dedicated 40' shipping container.  I arranged special transit insurance through a specialist broker - the policy itself was actually Lloyds coverage.  I then secured all cases by security taping them shut and adding paper to the plastic trays so that you could not see their contents.  I also packed them in boxes myself so the packers only had to take the sealed boxes away - they packed the rest of our goods.

I was happy with the result in terms of security.  No losses whatsoever and in fact no box, tray etc had been unsealed.  However, there were some "motion" issues.  While I put all the trays in flat and carefully I could not control the shipment which involved not just trucks and cranes and six days on the high seas but most importantly movers who do not keep all boxes level as they carry them in and out of trucks and up and down stairs.

So the result:  I had emptied my three coin cabinets as I knew they would slide around.  I had placed those coins in mylar flips in binders so they were all fine.  The leuchturm/lighthouse plastic trays were 2/3 fine but about 1/3 had a fair bit of movement - coins spilling over into adjacent spots.  Two of my Biba cases have trays with the plexiglass cover that you sort of snap in place.  Those had almost no coin transfer at all and were fine.  However the Biba trays without plastic cover and the three tray wooden leuchturm boxes were a disaster.  The coins were completely jumbled, maybe 5% in their original space.

Luckily as part of my inventory and insurance I had photos of every tray from before shipping.  Still it has been several evenings to re-arrange it all to the original positions. 

It certainly taught me that not all trays are equal and that it is not just the risk of coins sliding back and forth and getting "cabinet wear" but if you are not careful you can end with everything completely jumbled up even after a short trip.

Shawn
SC
(Shawn Caza, Ottawa)

Offline Olybrius-coins

  • Praetorian
  • **
  • Posts: 15
Re: Storage of a collection containing small and large coins
« Reply #6 on: September 18, 2015, 07:50:02 pm »
Thanks for the advice Shaun

When I started the collection, I hadn't really given much thought to collecting coins of a specific size - i just wanted one coin i really liked of each personality.

So my Lucius Verus is a 15mm provincial from Aeolis, Elaea - grain ears & poppies reverse (I don't care whether a coin is imperial or provincial - it matters only that i like it).
And my Lucilla right next to it is a big sestertius.

Considering your experience with small coins, it might make sense for me to maintain an album of small coins, and keep the large ones on trays - although i won't be able to display a neat sequence of contiguous rulers since they'll be divided between album and trays.

My collection doesn't sound like it's as large and heavy as yours - so i probably won't run into the same transportation problems you've faced (yet!).

In the end I may decide to replace the AE4s with larger coins - for 5th century rulers that means solidi. Expensive yes, but I have the rest of my life to complete my collection.

Or I may develop a special focus area on an early ruler (Hadrian being a favourite of mine) - I do find the 4th/5th century coins a little dull, and I only really collect them for the sake of completism.

cheers
Greg
Greg Heinrich

Offline Olybrius-coins

  • Praetorian
  • **
  • Posts: 15
Re: Storage of a collection containing small and large coins
« Reply #7 on: September 18, 2015, 07:51:01 pm »
Sorry, I meant "Shawn" not "Shaun"

 :)
Greg Heinrich

 

All coins are guaranteed for eternity