Shipping and packing

[Valentinian]

I won a Roman Republican coin at the recent Noonans auction. I wonder why thy packed it as they did. Here is the packing for one denarius:

Coin heat-sealed in a large plastic flip-like holder
inside folded-over sheets of double-thick corrugated cardboard
inside a bubble wrap envelope inside
inside a slightly larger bubblewrap envelope
inside a larger heavy-duty bubblewrap envelope

Why do you suppose they packed it with so many layers? 

By the way, here is the coin:

Q. Fabius Maximus (restored under Sulla), Denarius, c. 82-80, laureate head of Apollo right, ROMA behind, lyre before, Q MAX below truncation, rev. cornucopia over thunderbolt within wreath, 3.90g. Craw. 371/1; RSC Fabia 6.

Edited March 26, 2023 by Valentinian

[John Conduitt]

They pack every order the same. 40 coins come the same way. Presumably, they decided to take care of every order without risking damage for a few pounds.

[Kali]

Rather it be packed like that than loose in a stamped envelope.😀

[ominus1]

that's a fine coin and good packing job i believe Warren...:)

[DonnaML]

49 minutes ago, Valentinian said:

I won a Roman Republican coin at the recent Noonans auction. I wonder why thy packed it as they did. Here is the packing for one denarius:

Coin heat-sealed in a large plastic flip-like holder
inside folded-over sheets of double-thick corrugated cardboard
inside a bubble wrap envelope inside
inside a slightly larger bubblewrap envelope
inside a larger heavy-duty bubblewrap envelope

Why do you suppose they packed it with so many layers? 

By the way, here is the coin:

Q. Fabius Maximus (restored under Sulla), Denarius, c. 82-80, laureate head of Apollo right, Roma behind, lyre before, q max below truncation, rev. cornucopia over thunderbolt within wreath, 3.90g. Craw. 371/1; RSC Fabia 6.

I'll second @John Conduitt in saying that all my coins from Noonans -- including, most recently, the Henry VII groat and the Hadrian Oceanus, Nilus, and Italia denarii -- have been individually packed (together with any accompanying old coin envelopes and/or coin tags) in heat-sealed plastic wallets within corrugated cardboard and multiple envelopes. I don't mind the secure packing, but I can't say I'm a fan of the sealed plastic wallets, because the first thing I always do is take a pair of scissors to them to extract the coins. I do save the wallets, and staple them to my printed-out copies of the invoices and lot descriptions, because Noonans glues its descriptive labels to them. But they're kind of a waste of space, I think.

[David Atherton]

That does seem like a bit of overkill!

It makes me wonder what awaits me when I unbox (literally!) this coin.

[DonnaML]

8 minutes ago, David Atherton said:

That does seem like a bit of overkill!

It makes me wonder what awaits me when I unbox (literally!) this coin.

Are you suggesting that there's really supposed to be exactly 1 (one) coin in there? Is it this one?

[David Atherton]

3 minutes ago, DonnaML said:

Are you suggesting that there's really supposed to be exactly 1 (one) coin in there? Is it this one?

 

I wish! But yes, just one coin (a denarius).

[robinjojo]

Having been the recipient of some incredibly shoddily prepared shipments, resulting in the loss of some coins in transit, I definitely think Noonans' approach is the best, even if it is somewhat wasteful.