Bought new display case - do I still need to put coins in Flips or capsules

[paps]

I bought this case to display my growing collection. I do not like putting coins in flips or capsules but I'm worried about tarnishing.

If I use a display case, do I still need to put them in a flip to protect them from tarnishing?

Thanks

[Britannicus]

This display case looks like it can hold about fourteen coins. When you buy your fifteenth, will you buy another display case like this one? These will end up consuming a lot of space.

Tarnish is another word for patina. However, tarnish is generally viewed as undesirable, whereas patina is generally viewed as desirable, particularly with ancient coins. Of course, there can be both attractive and ugly patinas. Patina is also called toning.

If your coins are white as white and you want to keep them that way, then they should probably go into flips. For best results you will want to use acetate "hard" flips rather than vinyl "soft" flips. Long-term storage in vinyl flips can result in the coins developing a gooey green PVC film which will cause damage to the surface of the coins.

However, even if you use hard flips, there is no guarantee that the coins won't develop a patina (or tarnish as you say).

If you are collecting ancients, it may be best to accept that they will develop a patina over time. Also if you accept toned coins, it will greatly broaden the field for you in terms of what coins are available to add to your collection.

[Andrew McCabe]

Experienced collectors actively seek out toned / patinated silver coins (what you call "tarnished") and will sometimes pay a lot more for them as compared to white silver coins. This is for two reasons

1. Only good quality smooth uncorroded silver surfaces tone properly. Coins with bad surfaces including those cleaned with harsh chemicals, often have a slightly rough surface that will never tone. Hence toning can be evidence of good quality coin surfaces, which are desirable

2. Whilst ordinary brown toning can appear quickly on silver coins with good surfaces, certain types of dark toning, including reflective black tone and steel like toning and some coloured tonings take a very long time to form - decades. So good toning can show that a coin has been owned by other collectors for a long time. If you can find an old sale catalogue with your toned coins, it increases their value, both because it shows the coin was very much appreciated, and because it means it will easy to import or export the coins as you have evidence that the coin was already outside its country of origin for a long time and therefore hasn't been dug up recently.

So, "tarnish" usually adds value.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I find overcleaned silver 'tarnishes' in a couple of years, inside a flip. It all depends on the local atmosphere, of course; I'm a few hundred yards from a major roundabout, and probably get a lot of pollution. It improves the appearance of the coins immensely.

[Andrew McCabe]

I find overcleaned silver 'tarnishes' in a couple of years, inside a flip. It all depends on the local atmosphere, of course; I'm a few hundred yards from a major roundabout, and probably get a lot of pollution. It improves the appearance of the coins immensely.

Here is a coin that would benefit from some toning; it's been in collections since 1991 based on its auction record so far, and possibly a lot earlier. If 25 years hasn't diminished its whiteness, it'll probably never change.



Why? Perhaps there are microscopic surface issues that I can't see, maybe related to what is perhaps some traces of larger corrosion issues at some time. Or perhaps it's  the metal - less pure silver doesn't tone so well.

It's still a beautiful and well preserved rarity. But it would be great to have a bit of colour too.

NB note how dark its background appears. That's because the coin is actually a blazing white, and was photographed against a light grey card. To be able to see the coin at all, rather than just a white disk, I recall I had to shoot it in pretty dim conditions. It's a white coin.

[SC]

Nice coin.  Could it have been treated with something once that still serves to seal out much of the atmosphere?

Shawn

[jskirwin]

I agree with Michael K5. The box is too small. I went with a display case that holds 70 coins in flips, 6 in slabs and I've filled it up faster than I thought I would.