The worst level of PVC I've ever seen was on some coins I picked up this weekend

[James_OldeTowne]

The coins are nothing special, but Yes, that is indeed a bust quarter in there. The red album was so disgustingly slimed with putrid PVC that it was literally sticky as old rotten syrup. I had to wash my hands three times to get the PVC smell and gloppy slime off!! I've now conserved all these coins, and what you see is after two to three attempts with acetone - and some coins STILL have traces of PVC.

 

Note that these coins were properly stapled in PVC-free 2x2 flips... but then inserted into PVC-laden vinyl pages, and then stored in a basement. That is a recipe for disgusting chemical soup that's assured of damaging your precious coins. Interestingly, some coins were apparently toned prior to storage, so the acetone removed the PVC, yet seems to have generally left the original toning alone, which is of course what we hope for.

 

If this isn't enough to turn someone off of PVC, then maybe nothing will. The story unfolds now in pictures.... enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

[jerseycat10]

Nice work on the conservation. The Adlai Stevenson medal is in phenomenal condition after the acetone!

 

The bust quarter looks like it was a victim of Freddie Krueger.

[Oldtrader3]

Wow, James, they surely cleaned up nicely. They were really bad before. I do not believe that I have ever seen that much vinyl chloride on any coin.

[delta]

Great job of preserving those coins and thanks much for sharing all the photos!

[CyberspaceVoid]

Eeppp! That looks nasty! Thank goodness you were able to help them out!

[cpm9ball]

Yuck!

 

Wow! The Adlai Stevenson medal sure did turn out nice. The 1958 Death Totem is my favorite Canadian dollar.

 

Chris

[HCumberdale]

Wow - that sure is some transformation.

Good job!

 

Now what can one possibly do with the bust quarter?

My heart goes out to the poor girl...

[Bugmann1974]

Wow - that sure is some transformation.

Good job!

 

Now what can one possibly do with the bust quarter?

My heart goes out to the poor girl...

 

I could use it to replace the one I bought from James a few years back for my Dansco 7070.

That one has a huge gaping jagged hole where the date was

 

 

[James_OldeTowne]

Wow - that sure is some transformation.

Good job!

 

Now what can one possibly do with the bust quarter?

My heart goes out to the poor girl...

 

I could use it to replace the one I bought from James a few years back for my Dansco 7070.

That one has a huge gaping jagged hole where the date was

Wow I remember that one! In a weird way, that was a cool "holey quarter".

[lehigh96]

Yuck!

 

Wow! The Adlai Stevenson medal sure did turn out nice. The 1958 Death Totem is my favorite Canadian dollar.

 

Chris

 

Okay, so that is exactly what I was going to write. Chris must have read my mind.

[Walkerfan]

Nice restoration job!! That was like toxic waste!!

[Dcoin]

I'm wiling to bet you bought the lot for the St. Louis Bicentennial?

 

Did I win?

 

[nunfa0]

You do wonderful work with acetone. Thanks for sharing James!!

[e1cnr]

even in 2x2 holders the PVC leached in?

 

 

I have seen some uncirculated sets in old Harco albums that had a green tinge on all the coins and you could tell that the set started nice, and now is such a mess I don't even bid.

 

Always a risk buying something that may not look as good as your results after hours of effort.

[Arizonadesertrat]

When PVC decomposes (and this is accelerated by heat), vinyl chloride monomers can vaporize and deposit elsewhere, so finding PVC inside 2x2s isn't very surprising. When vinyl chloride decomposes, hydrochloric acid is released, and this will etch coins.

[michael]

wow james worst cases of pvc i have ever seen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

you did a fantastic job of removing the pvc

[James_OldeTowne]

even in 2x2 holders the PVC leached in?

YES! That's why I think there is just no reason to mess around with PVC-anything.

 

This situation has taught me a lesson. Don't even bother with PVC vinyl pages, much less PVC flips. We have some auction companies who continue... even today... to put coins into "temporary" PVC holders. Why do they want to take that kind of risk?

 

It's such a serious problem that if someone wants to link this thread ATS, I won't mind at all. Get the word out. The crusade reminds me in some ways of the "coin doctor crusade", except that I would bet this vicious, insidious substance has ruined FAR more coins than coin doctors ever have.

 

[messydesk]

I bought a small collection a few years ago that included a 1964 French mint set. The coins were packaged in a PVC sleeve, and I was using acetone to get green goo off my hands after removing the coins.

 

Nice salvage job!

[Timely]

Even the staples have moderate rust & rust migration, which we see a lot on the comic book side. PVC is really bad for comic books too.

[kryptonitecomics]

Wolverine got to the 1835 quarter.....what a shame

[coinman_23885]

Wolverine got to the 1835 quarter.....what a shame

 

I agree 100%. While you did an amazing restoration job, but I don't think the coins will ever be 100% PVC free. Unfortunately, it's another tragic tale of ruined coins.

[James_OldeTowne]

Even the staples have moderate rust & rust migration

Good eye! Yep, moisture makes PVC contamination particularly insidious.