HOW TO STORE AND DISPLAYING YOUR
WORLD COIN COLLECTION

By Joel Anderson

The best way to house and display a coin or paper money collection depends a lot upon the individual preferences of a collector. . A collection that will be stored in a bank safe deposit box should utilize a system that is as compact as possible. A collection that will be studied and shown to others should be easily displayed. There are ready made albums for most series of United States coins, however a collector of world coins will have to create their own storage system as there are few commercially available coin albums available, and those that are available cover only a very limited series of coins.

My favorite system for storing world coins is to put the coins into cardboard and mylar 2x2’s, then putting the 2x2 into either 20 pocket pages that fit into the standard 3 ring binder, or into 12 pocket pages that fit into a Dansco coin album. This allows the coins to be easily labeled, both sides of the coin can be easily seen, as well as providing flexibility allowing you to rearranging your collection as your collection grows or your interests change. If you collect paper money, currency pages can be included in the same album as the coin pages, allowing you to display the coins and banknotes together in one book.

Coin in a 2x2 cardboard and mylar coin holder 2x2’s are so named because, when folded, they are approximately 2 inches x 2 inches ( 50 mm x 50 mm). The cardboard and mylar 2x2’s have a clear window that allows both sides of the coin to be viewed. The cardboard provides rigidity and protection as well as providing space on which you can write a description of the coin. For world coins one typically includes such information as the name of the country, denomination and date of the coins, and perhaps a catalog reference number. Some collectors also indicate such things as the grade of the coin, how much they paid for the coin, where they bought it from, etc.

The card board and mylar 2x2’s are available in seven sizes based on current United States coins: cent, nickel, dime, quarter dollar, half dollar, silver dollar, and small dollar. I generally use just four sizes: cent, quarter, half dollar and silver dollar. Most world coins will fit neatly in one of these four sizes.

The coin is placed in the center of the clear window, the top is folded over and the holder is stapled shut. Usually 3 staples on the three open sides are sufficient. Many collectors prefer to put the fold on the top, allowing them more space to write in that area. To prevent the end of the staple from snagging on other coin holders, fingers, etc. it is a good idea to flatten the back of the staple using pliers. Staplers that leave a flat crimp are also available. If you are packaging a large number of coins it might be worth investing in one, otherwise use a standard stapler.

Once your coins are packaged up in the 2x2’s you can put them into plastic coin pages. The pages come in two sizes. The larger size fits in a standard 3 ring binder is approximately the size of an 8 1/2” x 11” (size A) piece of paper. It holds 20 coins in a page. The smaller size holds 12 coins to a page and is approximately 7.5” x 9.25” (19cm x 24cm) and fits in a Dansco bookshelf coin album. The coins can be arranged in the order you thinks is most appropriate. The 20 pocket vinyl pages are more economical and a standard 3 ring binder can be easily purchased in many stores - at least in the United States. I recommend getting a heavy duty binder as coins are heavy and an inexpensive binder may fall quickly fall apart. Many collectors prefer the 12 pocket pages and the Dansco coin album because it is more compact and it holds the pages more securely as the pages cannot be easily removed..