As I stated just look at the package or box from where the flips are manufacturered and contact them. You may find none are made with PVC. However, that is only the manufacturer's legal statements.
The thick easily bendable were PVC, the thin stiff had no PVC, I ran a test to make sure: Beilstein Test The Beilstein test is a simple chemical test which is used to determine whether a plastic contains PVC or polyvinylidene chloride. To carry out the test you will need a small propane torch and a copper wire (a penny could also be used). Copper by itself burns cleanly but produces a green flame (copper chloride) when combined with a compound containing chlorine ( e.g., PVC) Steps: Heat the copper wire in the flame of the torch until it burns cleanly. This serves to burn off any unwanted residues that might be on the wire. Make sure that you hold the wire with pliers or an insulator to avoid injury. Touch the hot wire to the holder. Some of the holder will melt and be stuck to the wire. Be sure to hold the holder close to the air intake of the torch in order to draw away the fumes from the burning plastic. Put the wire back into the flame. If the flame bums yellow or clear, no PVC present. If the flame burns bright green, then some PVC is present. Or Stretch Test For the stretch test, pull on the plastic and determine how easy it is to stretch it. The tear test is similar. Try to tear the plastic film as you would a piece of paper. Steps: Polyester (MylarTM) hard to stretch hard to initiate a tear; once tear begins material tears easily; tear has a rough edge Polypropylene easier to stretch than polyester hard to initiate a tear; once tear begins material tears easily; tear has a clean edge similar to cellophane Polyethylene easier to stretch than polyester hard to tear tends to tear in directions Polyvinylchloride easier to stretch than polyester moderately easy to initiate a tear ragged tear edge I now use E&T Kointainer Saflip http://www.brent-krueger.com/howtopvc.html
Steps: Heat the copper wire in the flame of the torch until it burns cleanly. This serves to burn off any unwanted residues that might be on the wire. Make sure that you hold the wire with pliers or an insulator to avoid injury. Touch the hot wire to the holder. Some of the holder will melt and be stuck to the wire. Be sure to hold the holder close to the air intake of the torch in order to draw away the fumes from the burning plastic. Put the wire back into the flame. If the flame bums yellow or clear, no PVC present. If the flame burns bright green, then some PVC is present. True but but other chemicals also give off similar results. This test is simple but not necessarily accurate. I've done this numerous times in our labs and have numerous different results. Zip lock bags had similar results but all manufacturers contacted stated no PVC was present and other chemicals also show similar results. Again, the simple way is to contact the manufacturer. If you don't have the original package they come in, contact the person selling them and say you want the manufacturers name. It is against the law to falsely state a products composition erroneously and manufacturers will not risk a law suite over such a simple request. Regardless of the presense of PVC or not it is not the PVC that may effect a coin. PVC is a stable covalent compound that will not melt until 212 degrees F. If your coins are exposed to that temperature you have other things to worry about. It is the additive is PVC to make it more flexable that is the problem and as they leak off, there is less and less all the time. You can only leak off so much of anything from anything until there is not more left.
What about cardboard 2x2's? What kind of plastic is in this type of holder? Are there any concerns about 2x2's or for that matter albums, old or new?
and ripping the mylar in the other holder. Suggestion: use a pair of pliers and crush the staple flat. This should prevent the problem.
I just buy Saflip or something like it...they dont have PVC in them and you can save yourself the trouble calling around.... I am not saying you are wrong, as I dont know, I am not a scientist, nor do I want to debate it. But every site, including sites for museums and historical conservation sites claim PVC damages coins when in contact with metal for long...I have had coins damaged in PVC flips. Its not the weather as they have not been damaged in non-PVC flips that are being stored the same way in a temperature controled environment. So whether it is the additive that makes them soft, or the PVC...either way...stay clear. If you want a first hand recommendation...Saflips...not an ad for them, just a confirmation that they have never harmed my coins (though they are stiff and a bit brittle). Better safe than sorry.
This is really more of a problem than any PVC or anything else. I can't believe how many coin dealers have those stupid staples sticking out. I seen many 2x2's and the smaller 1 1/2 sizes with tears from the staples. One dealer, I consider a freind, has those and when I showed him that and recommended flatening them he said if I had nothing to do, bring a pliers to the next coin show and do it for him. I walked away saying something under my breath not for publication. One dealer showed me something that amazed me. I thought I knew tools pretty well having rebuilt autos, working in gas stations, etc. He showed me a pair of pliers that close vertically up and down. What I mean is if you notice a pair of pliers goes down to meet the other side on an angle. These are hinged so they meet flat. He uses them for just that staple flattening. Now I'm looking for them.
Steps: Heat the copper wire in the flame of the torch until it burns cleanly. This serves to burn off any unwanted residues that might be on the wire. Make sure that you hold the wire with pliers or an insulator to avoid injury. Touch the hot wire to the holder. Some of the holder will melt and be stuck to the wire. Be sure to hold the holder close to the air intake of the torch in order to draw away the fumes from the burning plastic. Put the wire back into the flame. If the flame bums yellow or clear, no PVC present. If the flame burns bright green, then some PVC is present. I noted this was copied word for word from a web site. A similar web site claimed Acetone will damage Copper coins if left in the light. So we experimented in our labs. Put a pile of coins in a beacker with Acetone. Silver, Copper, Clad, Dimes, Nickels, Quarters and cents. Left in the Acetone for two days indoors and two days outdoors in the Sun. The only thing that happened was a little cleaner. NO DAMAGE as per that web site. Next after reading this post we tried Copper wire, Brass wire, Bronze wires. We use a Butain torch, Propane torch, several types of plastics, pieces of PVC pipes. We burned the ends of the wires and touched everything possible and again tried the heat. Due to the melting point of PVC being 212F, it basicallly melted off the wires leaving no trace since it vaporized. Same with everything else we tried. The attempt to place the burning plastics at the entrance of the air intake of the torches only made the flanes dim a little. As to it burning yellow, that is the basic color of the Butane burning anyway. Now just how can PVC, a stable covalent compound made up of Carbon, Oxygen and Chlorine burn green? These experiments lasted for about an hour. The burning PVC did hurt our noses teaching not to liesten to people that just make things up. Note that many items mixed with copper turn green including Copper Carbonate made up of Carbon, Oxygen, Copper, Hydrogen. Of course many web sites state facts that are just not so or exagerated like the Kinsey Reports. It is always fun to experiment anyway.
It worked for me on a PVC flip as compared to a non PVC flip...the goo on the wire from the PVC flip burned green...the non pvc goo on the wire did not... and as for PVC not harming coins, you might be right...but my coins were harmed by something in the PVC flip and not by the non-PVC flip in the exact same conditions...so I chose to take the advice of the experts...better safe than sorry...it has work well for me so far.
Carl - did you actually try burning a PVC coin flip though ? The experiment works and the info is accurate.
I saw a stapler somewhere that was designed to make the staples flat for you. It was on a coin supply site somewhere. I don't know how well it works though.
dreamer: That does not look like PVC damage. The coin may have been buried and (using Nic-A-Date) had its appearance 'enhanced'.
Also, I've noticed that on some brands of staplers the bottom plate is removable such as on a Swingline brand. If possible I'll try to make a plate that is flat for that place and see if the staples will flatten automatically.
Yes we tried what could have been PVC flips. However, finding a manufacturer that says the flips are PVC is difficult. So just to make sure we were using PVC, we used several types of actual PVC piping where it states on the pipe that it is PVC. Also, tried a sheet of PVC. The PVC is usually just to stable a covalent substance to separate the molecular structure by only heating. It must be the additives, Phthalates, added to some PVC's to make them softer. However, after a while their is insufficient Phthalates left to dissapate. Pure PVC is what we used and it is difficult to change the compound's configuration to form a Copper Cloride from a vapor of PVC. We will do more testing later and try finding something with additives that may break down to form this effect. Please remember though that even excessive Carbon Dioxide present during such types of testing will dissipate a greenish coloration due to the forming of Copper Carbonate.
