What makes a quiet expanded shell?

[M. Yandorf]

From my experience there is one factor that makes a shell quiet, and it's not Teflon tape.

I am referring to a normal expanded shell, or a non-expanded shell; sliding half shells (i.e. Slippery Sams) are another story.

Anyway...
The sound of de-shelling and re-shelling a coin is made from the coin scraping the inside rim. Logically: a shallow shell makes less noise than a deep shell.

Lining the inside bottom with Teflon would not cut down on shell noise. Teflon lining also give an extra layer of material a magnet must work through for a shimmed shell, this would give it a weaker magnetic pull.

The way I see it:
Deep shells = more noise
Shallow shells = less noise

Of course deep shells look nicer, but sound louder.

[Sammy J.]

Probably true. I have a CSB set that is 30 years old. Back then I thought it was too noisy, so I lined the shell with regular masking tape. It helped quiet it down cosiderably, and after 30 years of use, the original tape is still working fine!

[Chris Deleo]

probably a question for Todd Lassen. When do you hear artificial noise most, when nesting the coin? I've found an overall lighter touch helps a lot. Plus general background noise seems to cover a lot when working restaurants and other events.

it's pretty much an inherent evil, but there are ways to combat it

[Brian Marks]

If my shell acts up I give it a "time out" in the corner until it lears to behave itself.