Sealing a mylar flip.

Today I tried something.

I have a Vacmaster VP115 chamber vacuum sealer for food (I freeze a LOT of food). It has an impulse sealing bar that I can vary heat times.

This one is similar:
http://www.webstaurantstore.com/ary...-1-2-seal-bar-automatic-lid/120VMASVP120.html

I took a couple of coins in a saflip, and put them on vacuum for 10 seconds, and sealed them for 5 seconds.

Here is what I got. Not the best picture (cell phone), but it gives you an idea. The edge I sealed is on the top of the picture. The vacuum removes any air, and the seal closes it up. Seemed to work really well. I think it should work to keep the elements away from the coin.

Any thoughts?

 

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My only worry - although I have no knowledge whatsoever in the area - is if Mylar might outgas something undesirable when heated like that, unlike materials formulated for the task. Otherwise, cool!

 

zip-lock.........

 

I'm actually a real fan of vacuum-sealing for long-term storage. Oxygen is the numismatist's greatest enemy.

 

I am thinking for selling purposes on eBay. If I seal it, and mark the outside of the flip, it would be harder to switch the coin for a return.

Not that I don't trust anybody, I just don't trust ANYBODY. I can thank my street-smart Italian parents for that endearing trait that I am stuck with.

I want to represent any coins to the best of my ability and as honestly as I can. But I do not want to get burned over something that I can try to prevent.

 

If you can seal it, then so can they. I'm not sure that this is a good fraud prevention method, but it seems like it would be pretty good for the coins.

 

Here is the link to the pgcs supplies page for the mylar flips. It says they are heat sealable. I will write to them and ask how they suggest doing it.

http://www.pcgs.com/store/p-18-saflip-double-pocket-mylar-coin-flips.aspx

 

When I was young I worked in a hardware store. When someone wanted to buy "the best lock", I would always tell them "Locks only keep the honest people out."

I guess I am thinking along those lines. If someone want to screw me, I guess they will. But it just makes me feel like I am doing something to try to curb any evil thoughts! haha

Besides, it may stop someone from touching my nice MS coin with their dirty greasy hands before they ask to return it.

 

Not to mention if you like to make your own sausage and have a huge butcher shop right down the road - LOL!

 

I don't know how closely heat-sealers regulate their temperature. Mylar apparently melts around 250C, but starts to decompose at 300C; when it decomposes, it can produce organic acids, which would certainly be bad for coins, even though they'd exist in pretty small quantities.

I'd also want to make really sure that the coin is thoroughly dry and doesn't have any potentially damaging contaminants on the surface. An acetone dip would be a good idea. (This is for long-term storage; for just shipping a coin to a buyer, I can't imagine it would be worth bothering.)

 

There probably was a time when heat sealers were expensive. I got some mail order coins in the 80's (the robber baron era for coins) sealed in soft flips from dealers declaring their return policy void if the seal on the flip was broken.

But heat-sealers today are not expensive.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_s...impulse+sealer&sprefix=impulse+sealer,aps,741

 

That's what I was thinking. What are the thoughts on this?

 

What will stop someone from putting the coin in another flip and sealing it if heat sealers don't cost much?

 

Nothing.

But just an idea of how to make it not quite so easy. At the same time, a way to keep the coins I am keeping in the state they are in.

 

In all honesty it really doesn't matter, if Ebay even bothers to make them return it all they have to do is show tracking of something delivered. Sealing a flip won't stop an Ebay thief from scamming you.

 

You may also be making it harder for buyers to grade your coins. And/or making it easy for them to convince themselves your trying to mask something. You have notice we're paranoid haven't you?

 

Write something with a sharpie on the flip that goes over the sealed edge from one side of the flip to the other. If it's opened and re-sealed, it will be obvious.

 

Photos would be of the coin before it has been sealed in the flip. Decide from those photos.

With a nice clean flip, good lighting and a jewelers loop you should be able to make out whether or not it would be a coin you would want to keep and if it had been represented honestly.

I don't see any reason why you would need to remove it, then decide to send it back.

And to answer your question. Yes, paranoid! But so am I!

 

Not to mention, it'll be impossible to open and reseal at the same dimensional measurement. They'll have to slice the old seal off - can't open it letter opener style - making the flip shorter the second time. Just image it (for your own records) against a rule.

For auction security, nothing beats pro-quality high-res images. I mention in my auctions that I have my coins imaged in such quality as to make "substitutions" or damage on returns immediately obvious, and it's plain truth. A good photographer with good equipment can shoot coins well enough that any coin substituted which can't be told from the original is worth taking back anyway.

 

Bingo. This extra so-called security measures may sound fine and dandy, but will it, in practice, make any real difference with ebay in the pilot seat? I don't know but wouldn't count on it... after a very costly experience I had some years ago, and with the full understanding that some things may have changed, I wouldn't put much faith in ebay no matter how much proof is provided them. Short of taking additional measures, you would still be left with a "he said, she said" type of situation regardless of if shipped in a sealed and marked flip, or unmarked 2x2 or saflip.