Did Harco make any of their coinmaster albums without PVC? and if so is there a way to tell the difference? thanks, David
Good question...I came across a pile of them in a buy a while back...I'm not going to use or sell them.......
I remember that they came out with new inserts for those of us that were affected by the PVC fiasco. They sent a small bottle of some kind of cleaner and however many inserts you needed to change them out in the albums. I got all new inserts then through the whole kit and kaboodle out. I had major damage on a lot of coins and it happened rather quickly. Complete set of Ikes 32 coins, I took and spent them all. Set of Peace dollars, sold for spot except the 28, they gave me a bit more for that. The list goes on... I was so disgusted it came real close to ending my collecting desire. Ever see a BU 39D Jefferson with PVC? How about a full set of BU war Nickels. Or heres one, 1889CC just a beautiful green. Makes me sick to even think about it again. suggestion, I have a fifty foot pole.. Want to borrow it?
Obviously if there is a diffraction image on the plastic, the plasticizers are still there, If they are old albums, probably they are OK, Remember it isn't really the polyvinyl chloride but the plasticizers to make it flexible. If you lived in a relatively low humidity , moderate to high temperature, and didn't store them squeezed together, you probably saw very little damage. If the pages are brittle, they no longer have the plasticizers. I have some over 25 yrs old, and since I did store the coins first in a polyethylene sleeve like ANACS did before slabs, they did not develop the "disease".
