Question about switching from Air-Tites to SAFLIPs

[ewomack]

Some years ago, I started buying Air-Tites for just about every coin that I purchased. Back then, I bought mostly modern US and Japanese coins. As the coins multiplied, so did the capsules. When I later began buying ancients, I quickly noticed that Air-Tites don't accommodate the high relief of some ancient coins, not to mention the irregular shapes of many ancient flans (to take an extreme example, I'm not sure if an Air-Tite exists that would hold my recent splayed Phocas sample). I also noticed that capsules take up a lot of space, as my coin box filled up rapidly. Following a recent thread here, I put all of my ancients into 2x2 SAFLIPs and really appreciated how little space they used up. Seeing that, I decided to put a lot of my other loose coins into SAFLIPs, both to save space and to make them easier to organize and flip through (I just had a pile of capsules dumped into a box before, which proved frustrating when trying to locate a particular piece). For this, I bought a 2x2 Interceptor box and nearly filled it with coins in SAFLIPS, including ancients and moderns of all sizes, metals and shapes. Picture included below.

So, my question (I know, finally) : should I have any concerns about storing ancients and moderns in the same box when the coins are all encased only in SAFLIPs? I have one or two potential "problem" coins that I did not put into the box and I inspected all copper and bronze coins for BD before including them.  Also, I did not pack the box tightly, so the coins do have some wiggle room that allows for flipping through them to some degree. Do any other concerns exist for this storage method? Should I include coins that appear to have stable green spots or omit them? Or am I being overly paranoid?

So far, I prefer this new method over hunting through piles of haphazard capsules, and I can also once again see the edges of the coins. I did save some Air-Tites for where they made sense, but overall my collection didn't warrant a capsule for every single coin. I just went overboard. But they definitely kept the coins well protected and isolated from each other. Now I wonder if I went too far in the opposite direction. I'm guessing not, but I'm curious about the opinions of others.

[Kali]

I think you will be fine, as long as you keep the problem coins separate and away from good coins, you will be good. I also use saflips and it's been over 28 year with no issues. 

The saflips themselves may age and crack and need replacing and some coins will tone though.

[Hrefn]

I have kept my coins both ancient and modern in SAFLIPS for up to 30 years.  The only problem I have encountered is that the flips eventually crack and require replacement.  The majority of my coins are not bronze, but the scattering of bronze coins seem to have fared no worse than the others.  

Coins were intended to be durable, passed from hand to hand, and not deteriorate if thrown in a clay pot or buried under the hearthstone.  Every ancient coin has survived two millennia of environmental conditions likely more hostile than a SAFLIP.  I do believe bronze and copper coins require some degree of care to avoid sources of corrosion, sulfur fumes, leaky batteries, and chlorinated plasticizers.  Still, a dry glass jar would probably store a bronze coin safely for 10,000 years.