Scored something interesting today - but it smells a bit musty...

[sin-n-dex]

I took a trip to the coin store today, and found a box with a "free" sign out front of the shop with various junk they were trying to get rid of (because the back room is totally cluttered, there are tons of binders and albums with collections that haven't even been looked at since they were purchased a few years ago).

They finally dealt with the coins, and threw the albums in the box outside. I scored some Whitman blue cardboard albums that were issued between 1958 and 1961. I left anything too damaged, but what I took was in pretty clean and neat condition, and the worst problem was a bit of pencil marking where the collector wrote years on the album (for coins that were not issued at the time the album was made).

That wasn't what I thought was the best part of this score...

I found some Coinmaster and Uni-Master albums (by Uni-Safe), although they were for Canadian coins. From looking at these albums they were made in 1980, and they looked like they could accommodate coins to about year 2000 without adding extra pages (and extra pages are available, or at least they were...)

But when I got them home... I realized that some of them smelt pretty musty. I used a damp cloth to wipe down the vinyl to remove any dirt. I noticed a couple of them smelt like pinesol (as if someone was trying to clean them), it was pretty pronounced when I smelt it up close. Not really sure what I can do about this, aside from tell buyers the albums look nice but they stink. (You have to be pretty close to it to smell it, but if I picked up on it while photographing them, then it's noticeable enough that I need to tell my potential buyers).

They were in reasonably good shape aside from the smell (for being used, and the guy who's collection was in them stopped collecting in 1995, they must have come in as part of an estate sale).

I might not be looking this up right, but I have not found a single Uni-safe album that resembles what I got today. I feel the albums I got were truly vintage (and it was the coin shop's trash, they were giving them away). I got a bunch of other supplies from the trash box as well, including two catalogs that I don't have at home which will help me identify things. (They are dated though, so prices won't be correct, but I never used a catalog to price anything anyway).

C.

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

@sin-n-dex 

"C", sounds like a nice score! If Canada has any SUN leave them outdoors for a couple days, in case of no SUN, hop on a plane to Vegas as we have plenty *110 ugh.

[pikabo-icu]

That's exactly what I was going to suggest, sun & fresh air.. 

[sin-n-dex]

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@silverstatetreasureboxes wrote:

@sin-n-dex 

"C", sounds like a nice score! If Canada has any SUN leave them outdoors for a couple days, in case of no SUN, hop on a plane to Vegas as we have plenty *110 ugh.

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We've got temps of 100F coming pretty soon. Not sure if we have sun this weekend, but leaving them out seems like a good idea (but it won't fix the last page of the album which is definitely looking musty as well as smelling it. They can remove this page without it affecting the album, but it's info about Uni-Safe albums so I don't really want to rip it out).

I figured I should mention it. It seems like someone tried to clean a couple of these albums to get rid of the musty smell and they have a chemical pinesol smell.

C.

[pikabo-icu]

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@sin-n-dex wrote:

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@silverstatetreasureboxes wrote:

@sin-n-dex 

"C", sounds like a nice score! If Canada has any SUN leave them outdoors for a couple days, in case of no SUN, hop on a plane to Vegas as we have plenty *110 ugh.

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We've got temps of 100F coming pretty soon. Not sure if we have sun this weekend, but leaving them out seems like a good idea (but it won't fix the last page of the album which is definitely looking musty as well as smelling it. They can remove this page without it affecting the album, but it's info about Uni-Safe albums so I don't really want to rip it out).

I figured I should mention it. It seems like someone tried to clean a couple of these albums to get rid of the musty smell and they have a chemical pinesol smell.

C.

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Can you leave it open to that page? The last one? 

Sun it on side one for a while then flip it & sun it on side 2? 

[sin-n-dex]

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@pikabo-icu wrote:

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@sin-n-dex wrote:

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@silverstatetreasureboxes wrote:

@sin-n-dex 

"C", sounds like a nice score! If Canada has any SUN leave them outdoors for a couple days, in case of no SUN, hop on a plane to Vegas as we have plenty *110 ugh.

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We've got temps of 100F coming pretty soon. Not sure if we have sun this weekend, but leaving them out seems like a good idea (but it won't fix the last page of the album which is definitely looking musty as well as smelling it. They can remove this page without it affecting the album, but it's info about Uni-Safe albums so I don't really want to rip it out).

I figured I should mention it. It seems like someone tried to clean a couple of these albums to get rid of the musty smell and they have a chemical pinesol smell.

C.

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Can you leave it open to that page? The last one? 

Sun it on side one for a while then flip it & sun it on side 2? 

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That page is paper and it's slightly stained... Even if it doesn't smell, it doesn't look so great. Since it has info about the album I'm thinking I should leave it (and photograph the album well to include all damage).

Funny to mention about sun and fresh air... perhaps they don't smell worse because they actually have been sitting outside in the sun in that box since Wednesday... so they already did get some fresh air which probably helped. (I think the store must have tossed them because they thought they were too damaged to try and sell as used supplies). And he obviously didn't know I'd be interested.

I've sold $150 in garbage supplies that were destined for the trash can, but because the condition was OK and someone could use them, they sold here instead of being thrown out. My last such sale was $25 for a used stamp album (that used to have stamps in it). I carefully took the stamps out and did my best to preserve it's condition and someone wanted it (probably for references on old stamps).

C.

[simba6]

Musty smell is like a patina,  it screams antique.

[wastingtime101]

The musty ones you might be able to improve with 24 hours in the sun and wiping the covers and any plastic parts down with white vinegar. The Pine Sol ones are permanently damaged.

I personally would not sell them. Disclosing an odor doesn't mean the buyer will read it, and the albums won't be cheap to ship both ways on a SNAD claim. The risk is too high.

I wouldn't want to put a collection inside something that smelled and potentially ruin the collection I spent so much time and money putting together. Maybe that's just me, I don't know.

If you sell them I suggest using the local pickup option.

[pikabo-icu]

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@sin-n-dex wrote:

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@pikabo-icu wrote:

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@sin-n-dex wrote:

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@silverstatetreasureboxes wrote:

@sin-n-dex 

"C", sounds like a nice score! If Canada has any SUN leave them outdoors for a couple days, in case of no SUN, hop on a plane to Vegas as we have plenty *110 ugh.

---

We've got temps of 100F coming pretty soon. Not sure if we have sun this weekend, but leaving them out seems like a good idea (but it won't fix the last page of the album which is definitely looking musty as well as smelling it. They can remove this page without it affecting the album, but it's info about Uni-Safe albums so I don't really want to rip it out).

I figured I should mention it. It seems like someone tried to clean a couple of these albums to get rid of the musty smell and they have a chemical pinesol smell.

C.

---

Can you leave it open to that page? The last one? 

Sun it on side one for a while then flip it & sun it on side 2? 

---

That page is paper and it's slightly stained... Even if it doesn't smell, it doesn't look so great. Since it has info about the album I'm thinking I should leave it (and photograph the album well to include all damage).

Funny to mention about sun and fresh air... perhaps they don't smell worse because they actually have been sitting outside in the sun in that box since Wednesday... so they already did get some fresh air which probably helped. (I think the store must have tossed them because they thought they were too damaged to try and sell as used supplies). And he obviously didn't know I'd be interested.

I've sold $150 in garbage supplies that were destined for the trash can, but because the condition was OK and someone could use them, they sold here instead of being thrown out. My last such sale was $25 for a used stamp album (that used to have stamps in it). I carefully took the stamps out and did my best to preserve it's condition and someone wanted it (probably for references on old stamps).

C.

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Three cheers for "found" money!!  

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

"C" you really should remove the last info page, make a copy and stick that into the album for an FYI. If it's musty, there is mold spores lurking and will spread fast and this could make someone very 😷 sick...

Good luck!

[mtgraves7984]

I'm in the long line. In Tennessee, we say sunshine is the best disinfectant. Great score!

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

@mtgraves7984 

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@mtgraves7984 wrote:

I'm in the long line. In Tennessee, we say sunshine is the best disinfectant. Great score!

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Now I wish VGK would get that "great score!!" Can't believe Canada is going to get 100*, we call that a cold front!

[sin-n-dex]

Thanks for all your input folks. I checked the books over very carefully this morning and narrowed it down to two offenders that were making the whole lot smell bad. I'm throwing those two out. The others don't have any kind of sent besides plastic. I think the smelly ones were also cleaned with pinesol, as I don't smell that on any of the other books. I removed the information page if it was in poor condition (it's advertising for their other books, but not really necessary.) I'll rephotograph those books when I get a bit more daylight.

As for the two that smell, upon close inspection you can see discolouration in the plastic which might well be mildew. I did a visual inspection of the others (as well as sniffing them), and I don't see any evidence of mildew on the others. So looks like I have a good score here still.

And I'm challenged with temperature in Fahrenheit... It's going to be 31 Celsius, that may be closer to 90F in temperature. Us Canadians still find that to be pretty hot... but our humidex will make it feel closer to 100F.

C.

[varebelrose]

Put them in a closed plastic tote box with baking soda for a week or so, and try to leave pages "fanned" open if possible.

[katzrul15]

Glad you have some that are still viable.  Free score is the best score!!