Older OGP and PVC?

[bsshog40]

Someone ATS was posting a coin from a 1955 proof set. During the thread, someone was claiming that these older box sets contained pvc in the little bags that these came in. Does anyone know if this is true? I have a 55' box set myself. I can't tell if they are the original coins. The set has 2 staples in it. One going thru all the coins and another looks like the dime was stapled in. The other looks very dark like it may be old and the other is still shiny. Anyway, was there pvc in them? Thanks!

[Coindude]

Bobby I do not believe there was PVC but the coins at times can and will turn dark. The coins I'm most used to seeing turn dark are the ones in the softer plastic like the 54 proof sets. The more brittle cellophane bags don't seem to have that problem but they do seem to suffer from glue residue which is easily taken care of with an acetone bath.

[yonico]

Bobby,

Many of the 1954 and 1955 proof sets that come in boxes are assembled sets rather than original ones. Also, I've heard from many dealers that the plastics the coins were held in would get dry and hard and crack/break at times (I'm talking about the little baggies that hold the coins). Maybe that "new" packaging material had PVC.

I do not believe the originals contain PVC, but I've seen some coins turn really dark in these boxes, maybe due to improper storage.

When I buy those boxed proof sets, first thing I inspect is the staple. It will be rusty. If it's new and shiny, it might be a set put together in new packaging. Then the baggies. They should not be really soft, they turn a little yellow sometimes, and after 60 years in there, sometimes an imprint of the coin (or the coin's shape) is seen on the plastic.

I've seen some "original" sets sell in shows and on eBay that were not original at all.

[Conder101]

The early boxed sets used cellophane envelopes which could become dried out and brittle, splitting and allowing the coins to move around. If I remember correctly some time in 1954 the mint switched over from cellophane to polyethylene which is a soft inert plastic. I have seen references that the pliofilm used in the flatpacks and the post 58 mint set is a multi-layer film that used PVC in the outer layer but I can not confirm that.

[bsshog40]

My 55' set have soft plastic baggies? I haven't opened them to inspect them real clear. The nickel doesn't look the best but the others look alright. If these aren't original, I guess it wouldn't hurt to open them and inspect them huh?