by CoinWeek…
In the coin collecting world, where folks spend ages piecing together sets of old and rare specimens, one guy got fed up with the lack of coin albums and decided to do something about it. Frustrated with what the big brands were offering—or not offering—David Donahue started making his own custom albums. They’re acid-free and PVC-free, and they cover series that the major album producers often overlook.
Donahue was not content with simply creating his versions of popular albums; he also set out to correct inconsistencies in port labeling and introduce unique cultural respects, such as a Hawaii coin album produced entirely in the Hawaiian language. This approach honors the indigenous culture that originally commissioned the coins while pioneering a new frontier: coin albums for foreign currencies in their native tongues—a concept that, to the creator’s knowledge, had never been explored before in the U.S. market.
Donahue drew inspiration from years of interaction with fellow collectors, particularly during his time working as an assistant at his local coin shop. Customers often sought albums for specific sets that didn’t exist, either because the store lacked them or no manufacturer had produced them. One memorable encounter involved a collector building a date and mintmark set of Indian Head Eagles, only to discover that no suitable album was available.
Additionally, Donahue noticed a shortage of available coin albums—even for standard sets—a situation worsened by manufacturing problems Dansco experienced upon its relocation from Los Angeles to Washington State, which made it impractical to order custom millimeter pages.
On a personal level, Donahue had been amassing Liberty Seated Dimes and Liberty Seated Half Dimes for several years. While a Dansco album sufficed for the Half Dimes, the search for a Dimes album dragged on for three years, yielding only a dilapidated old Whitman bookshelf edition. Similarly, pursuing an 1891 year set led to an inquiry with Capital Plastics for a custom holder- only to be deterred by a $200 price tag.
Donahue stumbled upon the solution completely by chance. In early 2020 he bought a machine to produce custom shirts and stickers. He soon realized that the machine could cut materials up to two millimeters thick- he wondered if he could use it to create homemade coin albums.
Donahue devoted the next year and a half to experimentation: sourcing appropriate materials, leveraging existing Photoshop skills for digital layouts, and using personal coin photographs converted into line drawings for cover designs. The physical assembly involved cutting components separately and piecing them together.
While the final products evoke the vintage charm of Library of Coins or Wayte Raymond albums due to machine limitations, deliberate differentiations set them apart, such as custom cover designs and inside pages on brown paper, right-hand slots on the pages, and mintages listed on the inside covers rather than on the ports.
Donahue debuted the first Liberty Seated Dimes album at a local coin show, where he was representing an auction house. Sharing his project with friends led to an unexpected reaction: they summoned the showrunner, who then involved another attendee. This individual spent considerable time discussing the album and commissioned albums for Great Britain Shillings from George III to Queen Victoria, which were delivered soon after.
Inspired, Donahue produced more albums for the next show, which he attended this time to represent himself. Attendees were drawn to the uniqueness of the albums, earning him an invitation to future events.
In the ensuing years, Donahue’s setup expanded with incoming orders and fresh ideas. Online posts on Collectors Universe, combined with word of mouth, attracted intriguing requests, including a Queen Victoria set spanning the British Empire, a gold Sovereign collection, and a Newfoundland set featuring varieties. Donahue took on these projects with the same zeal and attention to detail that he put into albums for his own sets.
As business grew, Donahue developed a website to showcase and sell his albums. On it, collectors will find tools to design their own pages, or they can reach out directly, and Donahue will help them create an album that fits their needs. One of his most popular custom pages is his equivalent of the Dansco 7070 Gold Type Page. This out-of-print Dansco page often commands $80 to $100 used on eBay. Donahue can produce a similar page for much less.
Pocket-sized albums represent Donahue’s latest innovation, starting with a dedicated 1891 set and expanding to include the Hawaiian-language album, Puerto Rico sets, Charlotte and Dahlonega type sets, West Point Mint Washington Quarters, and beginner-friendly year sets. He expects to promote these albums soon.
For those interested in exploring these custom creations, visit the website at https://www.donahuenumismatics.com/.
