The Grandfather of Modern Dansco Albums
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The next time you chat with a coin collector, ask them how they approach storing and preserving their collection. You’re bound to hear a plethora of responses: folders, coin flips, slabs, tubes, cabinets, safety deposit boxes, time capsules, mattresses, and more. (Sometimes, the occasional collector will “store” them in a nearby lake and claim they lost their collection in a “boating accident” when the tax man comes around.) If it can hold a coin, a collector has used it for storage.
For many collectors over the past 60 years, Dansco coin albums have been their storage solution. Dansco’s products have been part of our hobby since 1937, but collectors know very little about the company. An organization that emphasizes privacy, Dansco doesn’t have tables at coin shows, it only sells to a handful of wholesalers, and the firm rarely updates its website.
The “Dansco Dude”
I became fascinated with Dansco when I started exploring options to safely store and display my coins. Almost every collector I talked with mentioned Dansco albums, and they had strong opinions to share. Many commended the albums for safely preserving their collections for decades. Others liked how the albums looked on their shelves. However, all expressed frustrations at how expensive they’ve become. And a few dealers gave me an earful about Dansco consistently failing to fulfill their purchase orders.
With Dansco moving its entire operation from Los Angeles to Sumas, Washington, in 2019, COVID-19 forcing shutdowns, and a devastating flood, you would think production delays are just a recent issue. But even as far back as 1974, when Dansco was manufacturing the UN Food and Agriculture Organization albums, the UN office warned collectors to expect a six-month delay!
When I discovered that Dansco invented coin folders, I knew I had to research them further. This led to my preservation project to collect and save one of every Dansco album and folder ever made. I quickly adopted the online alias of “Dansco Dude” to share my research.
Early Albums
Through amassing and documenting hundreds of albums, I stumbled across some odd red albums labeled “The Continental Line.” I have always wondered about their history. They appeared in the 1960s before Dansco launched their modern-day brown Supreme albums. Through research at the ANA’s Dwight N. Manley Numismatic Library, email conversations with Ken Bressett, and diving into the late David W. Lange’s research and documentation, I discovered the story behind these odd red albums and inadvertently found the grandfather of the modern-day Dansco Supreme albums.
Ervin J. Felix
Ervin J. Felix was a coin and stamp expert who worked as the West Coast distributor for the Coin & Currency Institute (C&CI) in the late 1950s and early ’60s. After almost a decade of distributing albums for C&CI, he had heard a lot of feedback from dealers and collectors on what they liked and disliked about the current coin albums in the market.
In 1963 Felix took his insights and left C&CI to create a competing set of albums, the Continental Line series. Since he was in Southern California and Dansco was already based in Los Angeles, he contracted with Dansco to make his albums. Felix posted several advertisements of his albums in a few issues of Coin World.
The Continental Line series only ran for a few years. Still, Ervin Felix made significant changes during that time.
The Continental Line series only ran for a few years. Still, Felix made significant changes during that time. He switched the binder material from vinyl to faux leather and expanded the line of albums to include countries such as Austria, Germany, and Luxembourg.
Impressed with the quality and success of the Continental Line series and realizing the popularity of the coin-album format with collectors, Dansco purchased the rights from Felix. Dansco would continue the Continental Line series for a short time. However, the firm quickly transitioned the Continental Series to the now beloved brown Supreme Albums we know today. Dansco eventually focused less on coin folders and more on manufacturing coin albums.
The great irony is that Felix later joined Whitman—well known for its famous blue albums—as its senior stamp editor for the Stamp & Coin Supply Merchandiser. The modern-day brown Supreme albums still serve as Whitman’s most significant competitor today.
An Enduring Product
Even though Dansco stopped producing the Continental Line albums in 1966, they are still highly sought after by collectors today. Some foreign Continental albums are the only ones you can find for specific countries, with some selling for hundreds of dollars empty. Good luck finding another coin album that covers series like Czechoslovakia type coins! If you are a coin dealer and an odd red album comes across your desk, wait before you throw it out!
Ervin Felix would continue to enjoy a storied life by running his coin shop and publishing various stamp-related books. His work had a profound impact on coin collectors and coin preservation. He passed away in 2006 at age 90.
Felix created the Continental Line series in response to frustrations he heard from collectors. In doing so, he inadvertently became the grandfather of modern Dansco albums. Any future generations will continue to enjoy collecting, knowing their coins are safe and secure in an album with such a storied history. What a great legacy to leave behind.
Justin Hinh is a lifelong coin collector, ANA member, and amateur numismatic researcher. His research has been featured on Coin World, CoinWeek, and The E-Sylum. Known online as the “Dansco Dude,” he specializes in collecting and researching Dansco coin albums. He has a collection of over 700 albums and folders and documents his research and findings on Instagram.