So, Trig convinced me to go find my sack of Outback dollars.
I knew I had never gotten around to 'archiving' it in permanent storage, and I had a fair idea of where I stashed it.
It wasn't there.
So, a few gentle enquiries revealed that it had been deemed to be 'in the way' by a higher authority (female, naturally). And so it had been moved 'out of the way' without bothering to tell me.
(http://i.imgur.com/ZDSBHCH.jpg)
Note the yellowed plastic. This immediately set off alarm bells. Note also the dullness of the outside coins.
Here's one from the inside of the sack and one from the outside. Only the outside surface is dulled.
(http://i.imgur.com/lRCqHbb.jpg)
And here are the same coins after a little acetone. Note the green crap on the cotton bud.
(http://i.imgur.com/jBNXiSH.jpg)
I have no idea how long this sack sat on that carpet. Years, certainly.
Fortunately, Outbacks are not exactly rare, and with 500 of them, it doesn't really matter. But it could just as easily have been something more valuable.
So let this be a warning... its not just foam cushions that will give off fumes that pass right through LDPE. Carpets do too, and presumably all manner of other materials. Wood comes immediately to mind for example. If you're going to store bulk sacks, do it on a tiled floor, preferably off the floor. Wrap them in multiple layers, preferably something less porous than LDPE, and check on them often.
Now I'm wondering where my mint box of 2ยข rolls is.. haven't seen that for a while... :(
Jeebus McDuck ya had better take more control in your Moneybin Mate.
how on earth can you not know where a bag of money worth $500 is in the house?
let alone a box of $2 rolls ?????
a single coin , yes I get it but jeepers bags of money??? heck!!!
Quote from: 'trout' pid='71439' dateline='1430120133'Jeebus McDuck ya had better take more control in your Moneybin Mate.
Y'got that right... desperately need the renovations to add another sub-basement vault level. Without carpets.
Losing track is quite easy. I'm not master of my own destiny here, and have to fight tooth and nail for every square inch of space in whatever odd corners I can manage. So until stuff goes into long-term storage, well, it could be anywhere. :(
BTW, final damage bill is in... 83 coins, including 10 'ayers rock' errors and one small strikethrough.
I'll probably try to restore the errors, since they don't survive circulation well, if at all. The rest I'll use as a 'show and tell' at the next MNS meeting, then throw back into the pond.
And of course now I'm all paranoid about what else might have a bad case of 'carpet burn'. :(
Have you thought of using those big plastic storage tubs with lids you can get from Kmart/2 buck shop for storage.
You could put your coins into disposable food containers ( those ones like you get from your local Chinese takeaway) lable them and store them in these tubs.
A pretty cheap and effective method of storing "Bulk" coins and the seal on the takeaway containers is pretty good.
Just thinking "Outside the Square" here McDuck :good:
Quote from: 'trout' pid='71466' dateline='1430172551'Just thinking "Outside the Square" here McDuck :good:
Good thought, but they wouldn't take the weight. The money bin has concrete floors and a heavy duty storage system, so its not the problem. The problem is the new stuff and things I'm working on. Its not my house, and I'm severely cramped in what I can get away with. Plus, the toxicity of the environment wasn't obvious ahead of time.
Its a bit like all the people who stashed early mint sets in their original packaging, only to find years later they had a bundle of green goop instead of coins.
Coins are incredibly fragile, and our obsession with grading places a huge strain on us. Sometimes I wonder if we'd all be better off with ancients that have spent 2,000 years buried in some field. :(
It IS a real Bugger when you put your coins in harms way without realising it.
I did exactly the same thing when I discovered that my PVC albums were destroying my collections.
I stuffed up many coins doing this :cray:
Not sure if it helps (and does not make any real difference), but I was thinking about what has happened and I am wondering if it's a foam underlay that caused the problem, rather than the carpet itself?
honestly I think it's called time
time seems to be greatly underestimated here
if you leave a bag of anything (but especially a bag of metal that is loaded with copper) just around the place - floor anywhere, on carpet , on wood, on lino, on tiles, in the cupboard, in a jar
then over time, with the household yearly changes in temperature, all clumped together in one of those thick bank bags and you add air flow, dust pollens and so on
the whole mix makes for deterioration
even if these were probably in 2x2's they may still have deterioration or surface changes
they are a material item and are supposed to tone, change or even simply rot
even in those acyclic pcgs holders - coins continue to tone, rot and if you're lucky, gracefully age
time never stands still
I wouldn't fret too much McDuck.
I imagine everyone else's coins that have been left in the original mint sleeves are in pretty much the same condition.
(http://www.australian-coins.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10019/mint1.jpg)
(http://www.australian-coins.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10019/mint~0.jpg)
One thing I have noticed when I get coin stashes that have been cashed in at the bank -often have an oily film all over them. I assume they have been put in a jar on a kitchen shelf and this is from cooking fumes. Sometimes clean up very well with acetone and sometimes ruined.
Maybe it depends on what, and how, they cook.
I.E. FISH AND CHIP SHOP TIP JAR!! HA HA
oops caps lock on!!!
nah not yelling - too tired for that at this time of the day