Coin collecting is a fantastic hobby to take part in—one that allows collectors to find coins that are rare and beautiful, historical and commemorative. For all of the coin collectors out there, whether numismatists or part-time hobbyists, there are resources available to help designate their worth, rarity, significance, and more. These resources, which can range from smartphone apps to encyclopedia sets, might provide you with noteworthy insight prior to purchasing your collectible coins, but they don’t provide you with the information you’ll need once they’re in your possession.
You might not think about it, but the coins you have collected are an investment. Depending on the coin, you might have spent a pretty penny to bring your collection closer to completion. For this reason, it is paramount that you protect them once they have been purchased. The last thing you want to have happen is either to have your coins devalue with time—due to age, wear, usage, or poor storage conditions—or due to theft. Your collections are growing, but are your coins safe? Here are some of the best ways you can ensure the ultimate safety and security for all of your collectible coins.
Taking Notes Before You Begin
Before you even begin storing and securing your coins, you should set aside time to keep track of all of the coins in your possession. This might sound unnecessary, but it can end up being more beneficial than you might think. There are a few benefits produced when keeping track of your coin collections, including a few of the following:
- It allows you to keep track of every coin, so you will know if a coin were to go missing.
- You can further take note of the price at which the coin was purchased, the condition of the coin on purchase, the collection it belongs to, the location in which it will be stored, and more.
- A separate folder can be created to monitor your coin collections, not only to watch your progress with time but to notate which coins you should keep an eye out for in the future.
This is a simple, non-laborious task that will make it easier for you to monitor your coins in the future. Consider it akin to a retail store’s inventory list: You want to regularly monitor that all products are accounted for, and that value of all stocks are assessed on a recurring basis. It’s better to keep track of your valuables than to be scratching your head when you believe you’ve misplaced one or had it stolen.
Coin Storage Devices Go a Long Way
Concerning both safety and security, coin storage devices are a must. As stated above, it’s in your best interest to have already purchased these prior to stocking up on a lot of coins. While the first tip can be considered a means of inventory, coin storage devices are a means to categorize and protect. Coin albums and folders are a sound way to protect your collectible coins, storing them together based on their affiliated collection. These simple storage devices provide you with a sleek method of storing your coins out of direct sight, where they can then be placed into a safer, more secure spot of your home. These albums and folders come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and quality.
For the utmost sense of security and safety, it’s best for you to purchase folders and albums that are made with ultraviolet (UV) light-blocking materials, as UV light can have detrimental effects on the surfaces 0f your coins. Furthermore, you’ll want to consider coins and folders that are made with durable materials, some of which will also be water resistant. Each of these features is another step of heightened security and another means for you to ensure that your collectible coins are protected in the present and the future.
Location Matters When It Comes to Your Home
While you can purchase coin storage folders and albums that protect against certain environmental conditions, it is important that you consider the conditions within your home prior to choosing a spot for storing your coins. A UV-light-blocking album might reduce the amount of UV interactions your coins might receive, but there’s little purpose in buying an album like this if you’re storing your album in direct sunlight; a waterproof coin folder is a great investment, but not so much when you plan on storing your coins in a spot of your home that regularly floods and has issues with severe humidity.
Search for ideal environmental conditions when storing your coins: areas that are free from natural light, low humidity, and not likely to experience water damage. Once considering these characteristics, you’ll then want to take security into mind. Is this premier spot somewhere right near your front door? Is it located inside of a guest room where you regularly have friends and family staying? Is it somewhere a regular person would easily be able to get their hands on your collection?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, you should reconsider your storage spot. These insecure spots will leave your coins open to improper handling or, at worst, theft. Find a place in your home that is well secluded—somewhere you are highly aware of, but an intruder might not be. The bottom or top of a bedroom closet might be a sound resort or hidden beneath other items within one of your coat closets.
Improved Home Security
We discussed some possible storage options in the last section, but this still might not be enough to quell your worried thoughts. A closet might work, sure, but you want something more secure—a hiding spot where you can rest easy knowing your coins are safe from anyone who isn’t you. In that case, you should begin considering more industrial storage devices. As a cheaper option, a filing cabinet can work—especially one that has locking drawers. You could easily store your collectible coins within their folders inside of its cabinet drawers. Let’s say you still feel as if that isn’t good enough. If so, move on to a safer option: a safe. Whether you go for a safe with a digitized lock or padlock doesn’t matter, but these are the types of safe you should consider.
If a transportable safe—think of a handgun safe—feels safe enough for you, then consider seeking one out. A smaller safe such as this will provide heightened security compared to other options while still being able to be stored inside of a cabinet, a nightstand, or a closet.
If you want still more aggressive security measures, consider purchasing a floor safe. This type of safe can be installed in a hardened floor of your home and is likely immovable to any person. The security apparatuses installed will be some of the best available to you as a private citizen. With a safe such as this, you’ll have few worries remaining about the safety of your coins.
A Deposit Box Might Work Best
If an in-home safe doesn’t sound like an option for you, or you’re simply worried about the environmental conditions in and around your home, you should consider talking to one of your local banks. Due to what you may have heard, you might think that they only store silver and gold bullion bars within their safes, they have storage areas for other precious items. People rely on banks’ deposit boxes for important financial documents, heirlooms, rare items, and more. For this reason, they make an excellent spot for you to store your coins.
Your local bank might charge you regular fees to store your valuable collectible coins within one of their deposit boxes, but this is a highly secure, well-monitored way to protect your coins from damage and thieves. While you feel as if your home might be the best spot to secure the majority of your coins, it might be a smart option to store some of your rare coins in a bank. This way, you can split up your collection, ensuring that if theft were to ever occur, your assets would still be protected.
Reduce Rust with Silica Gel Packs
As mentioned in earlier sections, poor environmental conditions, including humidity and moisture, can have severely detrimental effects on your collectible coins. While you can purchase certain types of folders and albums to protect them from the elements, there are other steps you can take to guarantee their long-term safety.
One of the best ways you can reduce moisture and humidity within a storage device, whether that is a safe or a deposit box, is to include one or two silica gel packs inside. Silica gel packs act like little dehumidifiers, controlling the moisture within the storage device of your choosing. By limiting the moisture surrounding your coins, you are effectively reducing the corrosive damage that can occur within your collection.
Thinking of Handling Them? Safety First
While you’ve already stored your coins away, securing them from any possible harm, damage can occur when interacting with them. When interacting with your collectible coins collection, it is imperative that you undertake any and all safety precautions to reduce the risk of damage. If you’re going to inspect your coins or transfer them from one location to another outside of their album or folder, there are two rules you should follow: only use clean cotton gloves to handle them—this reduces the possibility of transferring oils and other contaminants from your hands—and, if using a tool, rely on rubber-plated tools.
To ensure that anyone who interacts with your coins knows this information, too, it is important that you have this conversation with anyone else within the household, especially your children. There’s no need to be overbearing about it, but it can be helpful to sit down with them and teach them the basics of your craft. This is a great way to ensure that your collection is safe in case anyone else were to ever come into contact with it, and it might end up growing a bond between you and your children, helping them to become interested in it.
Look to the Future
Coin collectors should strongly consider protecting their coins for the future. It often takes quite some time for collectors to complete collections, and the thought of either having those coins ruined or stolen due to poor storage is nothing short of saddening. If you’re still curious about the security options available to you, you should consider reaching out to people within your local coin collecting community. It is likely that these people, whether sought out in person or online, will be able to offer you anecdotal insights so you can guarantee the security of your coin collections.
Curious as to the other options available, or simply interested in talking to someone else about the security measures available to you? Then feel free to reach out to us at Provident Metals. As a bullion dealer, it is our mission to provide all of our customers with safe and secure transactions, where you’ll receive high-quality premium precious metal items. We want to ensure that your products are protected for the years to come, so reach out with any questions you might have about coin security.
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