PVC damage

Have you seen coins like this for sale, in dealers stock books at shows, in public auction lots, eBay items or even coins in your own collection? The photos attached are various signs of PVC damage. If your coins are stored in pvc then this is what will happen. Not might happen, will happen! These coins are affected with pvc residue from storage in pvc album pages or pvc plastic holders. Underneath the green slime the coins are pitted and eroded by the chemicals in the pvc residue. These coins have been permanently damaged.

Maybe you have coins that aren't this bad. PVC residue can first start to show as a cloudy or milky haze over the coin surface, a greyish film, maybe a slight green tinge in the right light. The coins might even feel slimy to touch such as those from early decimal mint sets that have been stored in their original pvc packaging.

PVC is the abbreviation for poly vinyl chloride, a material used almost everywhere in your home. It's a hard plastic and to make it useable into soft plastic album pages, plasticisers are added. These plasticisers contain a whole aray of harsh chemicals and the pvc itself contains 30% cholorine, a bleaching and corrosive agent.

When these chemicals come into contact with your coins the acidity cycle starts. PVC isn't heat tolerant and will start to break down even before it leaves the factories. These chemicals will leach out of the plastic, even through your mylar 2x2 and onto the coin surface.

You can usually identify PVC by the ghastly odour it emits, like a cheap plastic childs toy. That's the chemicals leaching already.

There is currently a great concern within the collecting community on the Rwanda issued coins. The OMP packaging is suspected to have PVC in it. I personally collect most of their series. Nautical ounce series, Lunar Series, endangered species series. I have personally taken all of mine out of the packaging and put them in air-tites. As much as it pained me to break the seals i had to do it in the best interest of my collection. I’d rather have a beautiful coin in an air-tite then a destroyed one in the original package.

PVC residue can be removed with some careful attention, but the damage has been done. Third party grading services won't slab your coin if it exhibits pvc residue or damage.

Depending on the feedback from this post. I will give step by step instructions on how to properly remove PVC residue from your coins.

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Check out my post from this morning, very nice coin. https://steemit.com/steemsilvergold/@silverd510/sweet

Thank you