Recently I undertook a task to combine my two hobbies, woodworking and coin collecting. I planned to construct a coin cabinet to house a collection of ancient silver coins. As I started putting together a blueprint for my cabinet, I took note of several considerations. First off, I did not want to spend too much money or time on this project (especially since I did not know how they would turn out). Secondly, I wanted the cabinets to highlight the features of the coins. Thirdly, I wanted to coins to be able to be kept together and be safe from damage (my "coin area" often migrates around the apartment and my coins are constantly in danger of being lost). Lastly, (and perhaps most importantly) I wanted the cabinets to be portable, so I could take them to my monthly North Carolina Ancient Collectors meetings to make my fellow collectors jealous.

The first consideration was quite easily dealt with, without making many sacrifices in product quality. To save time I picked out pre-made cigar boxes that could be adapted into coin cases. Cigar boxes vary greatly in their construction and size. I chose boxes that were solidly constructed - solid wood boxes with dovetailed edges proved to be the most durable and most attractive. I was amazed at the quality of some of the boxes... especially for something that is essentially disposable, this is certainly a cheap alternative to making a box from scratch. Cigar boxes are also very inexpensive... at the TinderBox the empty boxes are $2.50 for ones constructed entirely of wood (and that money goes to a charity as well!) and similar boxes go for $3 at the flea market.

Since I was making this case to house silver coins, I decided to make a relatively dark display case to draw attention to the contrasting lighter facades of my silver coins. I stripped the old finish off of the cigar box and put several coats of stain until the desired color was achieved. During my blueprint stage I devised a plan to display the coins on several stacked trays that would allow all coins to be kept in individual slots and maximize the number of coins that could be held by the case. The trays were constructed using two pieces of wood. The top of the tray consisted of a piece of wood with several evenly-spaced holes drilled at a stationary drill press. The bottom of the tray served as the backdrop and was covered in felt and affixed to the top part of the tray. I stained these trays the same color as the cigar box and chose a corresponding dark background felt to give some cushion and contrast to the coin.

You might notice that initially I referred to the coins as coin cabinets but I used the term "display case" in the title. This change is more than just semantics. The term "coin cabinet" implies that coins can be permanently kept there. I did consult with Susan Malthby about my design and she confirmed my fear that it would not be archival-safe. I did take into account many of her suggestions, but she said that it was impossible to build anything with wood that would be archive-safe for corns. There were two primary concerns with my design. The first was wood gassing. I tried to minimize the effect of wood gassing by putting several coats of polyurethane on all exposed and hidden wood parts. Secondly, I would store the individual coins in plastic holders called "Kointains" - she reiterated that this might delay the effects of wood gassing but it certainly wouldn't stop it. I do not have a test for the amount of wood gassing, but after a month of leaving the coin case closed, I opened it up and could smell a slight residual cigar smell. Since a cigar smell could permeate three coats of polyurethane wood gassing certainly is occurring as well. The other major consideration is that materials in direct contact with the coins were acid-free and sulfur-free. I actually found out that many of the expensive felts were wool based that contained sulfur. I opted for the cheaper polyester felt that was sulfur free. Additionally, if I needed to label the coins in the container you can get circular tags that are made from acid free paper and write on them with archival safe pens with acid-free ink (I haven't gotten that far yet).

The last consideration that I had was that the case was portable. It is very portable, but since it is made with wood (the exterior cigar box and the interior display trays), it is a little one the heavy side. The end product weighs a little over two pounds and doesn't display as many coins (24) as I first had hoped. The prototype did make my fellow ancient collectors jealous, and they gave me some valuable feedback for enhancements for my next model. Nearly all of my goals had been met... the project was inexpensive and fairly quick. The final product cost about $6.50 to make and took about 5 hours to complete (not including stain and polyurethane drying time); the silver coins contrast inside the case, and they organize the coins well without having to struggle with flips. However, since the display cases are not archival-safe, I cannot assure that they will be safe to be stored in the cases for long. When I queried Susan Malthby on how long the coins could be stored in a wooden case, she did not offer an answer (I think it is because different wood types gas at different rates... she did say that Oak was one of the worst offenders of wood gassing and I was using mainly soft woods). However, I have stored a few silver coins in the case for over a month now and there has been no noticeable toning or damage to the coins from exposure to these gasses. It was still a very fun project and coins do look good with a wooden backdrop, I cannot wait to start designing my next case. If you are interested in building a case of your own, I would highly recommend it even if it is only safe for short term display.

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