PVC: do you use it and why/why not?

[1jester]

I touched upon this subject in a nearby thread, and I'd like your opinion on the matter. Incidentally, there was a poll conducted on the CU forums a week or so ago, and nearly half of all people voted that PVC is fine to hold coins in. I was shocked.

 

PVC is a poison to coins. How can people in good conscience continue to use it? Are we not merely temporary custodians of coins? Is it our right to assist in their destruction? Shouldn't we do as much as possible to try to keep them in as good condition as possible? Failing that, shouldn't we at least avoid all exposure to known caustic agents such as PVC?

 

PVC has been the cause of the absolute destruction of so many coins it's appalling. I've conserved hundreds upon hundreds--perhaps thousands of coins which had been exposed to the poison. Many of the coins were permanently damaged. About 15 years ago, I suffered a mind-numbing loss of my collection, due to the ravages of PVC; If those coins hadn't been turned to crater-ridden hunks of metal, I would be sitting on a collection worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Instead, PVC destroyed the coins.

 

Please allow my loss to be your gain. And the gain of numismatics in general. Please don't try to save a few pennies here and there by using PVC products. Shun them and save your coins. There's no excuse.

[JamminJ]

I do not use PVC flips for any of my coins.

 

I just kind of lucked out in determining that these were not good things to store coins, here's how:

Back when I collected as a kid, around 1980, I did the usual kid stuff like fill Whitmans with wheaties found in circulation or picked from the big buckets of common dates. For the non album stuff anything I considered to be relatively low value went into a paper 2x2, while anything high value, say more than $5, I bought one of the hard plastic 2x2s for. However there was one coin which would not fit in either a paper or plastic 2x2. It was...

 

...a Churchill crown. Since it was larger than a silver dollar I had nothing convienient to hold it. However, it came in a PVC flip which I decided to use for long term storage not knowing any better.

 

Like many kid collectors I lost interest in coin collecting for many years. When my interest was rekindled in 1998 I broke out all the stuff I had collected as a kid. All of it was in the same state I left it except for the Churchill. Predictably, he was covered in green slime and the surfaces were simply destroyed. About the same time I bought a "Coin Collector Survival Manual" by Scott Travers in which he mentions the evils of PVC flips. Right then and there I knew what he meant and what killed my crown.

 

All in all I lucked out having only lost a relatively worthless coin but in such a dramatic fashion that I would never forget. I still have that Churchill and have developed an affection for the coin because of what it taught me. These days I use NGC slabs for my better coins, airtites for the middle ones (or those which won't slab) and paper 2x2s for the cheapie stuff. Saflips are used for temporary storage.

 

Sorry to hear about the loss of your collection due to those darned things. I've also seen dealer inventories of coins in their death throws due to these flips and it saddens me. Hopefully some willlearn form you experiance.

 

-JamminJ

 

[1jester]

Thanks for the great post, JJ.

 

 

[kuot-migration]

Heard about PVC damaging your coins in the long run. Thanks for the reminder.

[leprecoin]

the problem i have is to recognize pvc.

I like world sets and never know if the packege cointain pvc or not.

I figure if the coins in good shape it dosn't, but will hate to open a set 10 yrs from now and find them all slimy or damaged.

as far as lose coins i made an habit to deep them in acetone for safty and then store them.(some sets i do crack open and do the safe thing using air tite or 2/2 cardboard)

but few month ago I "acetoned" a real nice toned coin that cost me $350 and was ready to send it ngc, I was in shock... most of the toning fade for starter, and then when you tilt it against the light it will show kind of hair lines like it has been polished, or maybe some prrof coins used to have that polished look ?

 

hopfully i will submit it soon to find out....

[kuot-migration]

the problem i have is to recognize pvc.

I like world sets and never know if the packege cointain pvc or not.

I figure if the coins in good shape it dosn't, but will hate to open a set 10 yrs from now and find them all slimy or damaged.

as far as lose coins i made an habit to deep them in acetone for safty and then store them.(some sets i do crack open and do the safe thing using air tite or 2/2 cardboard)

but few month ago I "acetoned" a real nice toned coin that cost me $350 and was ready to send it ngc, I was in shock... most of the toning fade for starter, and then when you tilt it against the light it will show kind of hair lines like it has been polished, or maybe some prrof coins used to have that polished look ?

 

hopfully i will submit it soon to find out....

 

Keep us posted.