Filling Slots in Albums "occupied" by Slabbed Coins 0

[124Spider]

Hi,

I have a number of coin albums for US coins--cents, nickels, dimes, quarters, half dollars and dollars--that are either complete or getting there.  

So now, having picked the low-hanging fruit, I am more and more left only with expensive coins.  Certainly, lots of them are more expensive than I ever will pay for, but some are ones I will pay for; I won't buy a very expensive coin (especially one that is often counterfeited, like the 1922 plain Lincoln cent) that isn't certified, and I won't crack open the plastic container in a graded coin.

So now I have holes in albums (a mix of Dansco and Whitman) when I actually own the coin.  That offends my sensibility. 

So far, I've put smaller coins as placeholders, which works ok (e.g., EU one cent coins in the Lincoln cent albums), but that looks kind of silly in the larger coins' albums (e.g., a Mercury dime in a Standing Liberty quarter album).  And I'm not real keen on buying a decent copy from the same year (e.g., an 1882 Morgan Dollar to fill a slot for an 1882-CC), since that costs real money.

What have people done to solve this problem?

Thanks.

Mark

[JKK]

I don't use albums, and the situation you describe is partly why. I use binders with 4x5 album pages, and for the spots where the coin is slabbed and not present, I put an empty flip with the info written on it.

[Coinbuf]

I have not done this in many years but what I used to do was use MS word to type up the info I wanted spaced out on the page.  Then use a circle cutter to cut a circle around the info just the size of the album hole, fill the hole done.

[RWB]

There are (or were) album-like pages for slabbed coins, but the whole thing is so bulky that it seems to defeat the purpose of an album or folder.

[Maybe next time, ask for "Incredible Shrinking Slabs." Just squeeze the corners until the entire thing - including coin - is shrunken down to the size you want. Great for travel, or album storage, or hiding rare coins inside hamburgers in the freezer!]

[DWLange]

I use old Whitman Bookshelf albums for my circulated sets, and this was my solution to the 1901-S quarter---I just cut out two squares of cover paper from an old folder and place each between the album's page paper and the clear slide.

 

[124Spider]

Thanks!

It does seem that there is no simple, elegant solution, which isn't a surprise.

I think I'll try using a different series of the same denomination of coin, and see how that looks.  For instance, common Indian Head cents in the Lincoln cents album; Jefferson nickels in the Buffalo nickel album, etc.  For the Morgan dollars, I can get uncirculated Eisenhower dollars for a nominal sum.  If that doesn't work, I'll bite the bullet and get good-looking, common coins of the same series.

[Mr_Spud]

For some, I just put a common coin with the same date in the slot for a key coin that has the mintmark on the reverse that matches the rest of the set. Like for a Barber Dime album I have an 1895 dime with no mintmark in the 1895-O hole in a Meghrig album and have the real 1895-O in a slab. That way it looks like the album is full. The date on the obverse matches the date written on the album page, and when you turn the page to the reverse the page isn’t marked so you can’t even tell it’s the wrong mintmark unless you are looking for it.

Edited April 11, 2021 by Mr_Spud

[DWLange]

I do that with antique coin boards I've filled. They show only one side of the coin, so it still looks good. I am careful to post a note on the back warning that the coins may not be the correct mints, just in case I'm not around when they get sold! It doesn't work, however, for Lincolns and Standing quarters with their obverse mintmarks.

[124Spider]

32 minutes ago, Mr_Spud said:

For some, I just put a common coin with the same date in the slot for a key coin that has the mintmark on the reverse that matches the rest of the set. Like for a Barber Dime album I have an 1895 dime with no mintmark in the 1895-O hole in a Meghrig album and have the real 1895-O in a slab. That way it looks like the album is full. The date on the obverse matches the date written on the album page, and when you turn the page to the reverse the page isn’t marked so you can’t even tell it’s the wrong mintmark unless you are looking for it.

I thought about this, but it does have flaws, alas.  It doesn't work for Lincoln cents because of the obverse mint mark; the same is true of standing Liberty quarters and early walking Liberty half dollars; and 1921 walking Liberty half dollars and Mercury dimes have no common sibling (1921 was a tough year for any silver coin not a Morgan dollar).  And it doesn't work for silver dollars, which have a melt value of about $20, and even the most common cost $30 or more in XF condition.  It works brilliantly for the 1937-D three-legged buffalo nickel, so I'll probably just get a nice copy of the normal one.

I'm thinking now of a hybrid--where possible (like the 1937-D buffalo nickel), I'll follow your suggestion.  Otherwise, I'll probably substitute coins of the same denomination from other series that aren't too expensive.
 

[zadok]

there r several companies that make plastic discs in mm sizes in diff colors, on ebay n etsy....easy to color code denominations n fill ur album holes, surfaces can be written on....inexpensive....

[Hoghead515]

13 hours ago, JKK said:

I don't use albums, and the situation you describe is partly why. I use binders with 4x5 album pages, and for the spots where the coin is slabbed and not present, I put an empty flip with the info written on it.

That's a great idea.