Air Tites? Flips? Which are the best silver holders?
Storing your precious has gradually becoming a rocket science due to the large variety of holders available for sale. Silver bullion will need proper housing especially numismatic coins.
In general, there are 3 main categories for bullion coins holder. They are namely, flips, capsules and tubes. For flips, they are 3 types which is the normal plastic flip (also known as vinyl), non-plasticized flip and Saflip (Mylar flips).
Vinyl Flip
Vinyl flips contains PVC and plasticizer. Plasticizer is a chemical added to soften the PVC. It is not recommended to use vinyl flips for long term preservation. PVC may corrode a coin’s surface, causing permanent damage to your precious bullion coins. In short, it is cheap but potentially harmful.
Non-Plasticized Flip
These pocket flips are non-plasticized and contain no softeners, PVC or other chemicals and are safe for long term coin storage. These flips are more rigid than regular vinyl flips as it does not contain softeners. This would be among the cheapest holder of all available holder.
Saflip
They look exactly like Flips but they are better. Saflip is a highly recognized brand by E & T Kointainer Co. based in Ohio. These flips are made of Mylar (not Vinyl) and are designed for long-term protection. They contain no oils or other additives and will not corrode, tone or cloud your coins.
^ Saflips are used by professional and musuems
Saflips are used by Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) in California for grading rare and numismatic coins. PCGS also supplies Saflips in their online store. American Numismatic Association, Harvard University, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Archives and Singapore Board of Comissioners of Currency are among the museums and libraries that use Saflip for preservations.
Saflips are recommended as an inexpensive storing option.
Capsule
Capsule is a snap-together transparent acrylic inner holder that fits nicely around the coin. Capsules are the favourite holder choice for many collectors and investors. Just like how Malaysian would refer chocolate drinks as Milo, paracetamol as Panadol and diaper as Pampers – we generally refer capsule as Air-Tite.
^ Lighthouse offers quality capsules in variety of sizes
Air-Tite capsules are sourced from US. Alternative to Air-Tite is Lighthouse capsules which are originated from Germany. Both are equally durable, highly scratch resistant and fully imported. Air-Tite also provide capsule for 1 oz silver bar.
Bullion coins from Perth Mint (Kangaroos, Kookaburras and Koalas), China Gold Coin Corporation (Pandas) and Royal Silver Mint (Andean Cats and Macaws) come with capsule by default.
It has become so common that it has now becoming an unspoken standard that we expect our coin to come in capsule. In general, one capsule of either Air Tite or Lighthouse should cost in between RM2.00 – RM3.00.
Tube
To me, this is the best among all. It is free, solid and most importantly, space saving! Tubes are “cost-free” because they come along from the original mint. Tubes are sturdy plastic containers and are able to hold 20 to 25 silver coins.
The only disadvantage I can think of is your coins may scratched due to “rubbing” motion among the coins cause by movement. To prevent this, just don’t shake your bullion-filled-tube like how you would do for a milk shake.
Depending on which coins you buying, the number of coins per tube vary. American Eagles and Austrian Philharmonics are 20 coins per tube whilst Canadian Maples are 25 coins per tube.
Signature tubes are the green lid tube provided by United States Mint for American Eagles and the yellow lid tube provided by Canadian Mint for Canadian Maple Leafs.
You can also buy generic tubes separately.
Buying your preferred holder
These holders are generally easy to purchase. Your local silver coin suppliers should have some in stock as well. Otherwise, if you are buying in bulk, you may consider importing directly from the following few online suppliers:
Buying your holder from BuySilverMalaysia.com
BuySilverMalaysia.com offers a small variety of silver coin holders. Click here to purchase your holder from BuySilverMalaysia.com
References:
- http://rg.ancients.info/guide/holders.html
- http://typesets.wikidot.com/coin-holders
- http://www.mycoincollecting.com/collecting/coin-holders.html
- http://www.vcoins.com/us/kointainer/
There's 3 Comments So Far
March 24th, 2012 at 5:38 pm
My Dad used to have a coin collection, which he started in the 1960s. The pvc “coin pocket” pages ended up leaching and tarnishing the coins after a number of years… maybe plastic coin pockets are made from a different plastic nowadays but it might pay to check.
March 24th, 2012 at 5:59 pm
Thanks for sharing!
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