Has any of our fellow collectors purchased coin sets only to find, when you open the mail package, the strong odor of mold? This evening I received three San Marino uncirculated sets with the strongest mold odor imaginable. The 1987 and 1988 sets were coated in greenish brown dust but with the coins were protected in their sleeves. The plastic package has been cleaned of all mold. The third set, a 1993 San Marino set was pristine and looked as if the previous owner never opened the set or even removed it from the sleeve. The aluminum coins were found to be a light dusty gray and the bimetallic 500-lire piece has a green growth on both the obverse and reverse of the aluminum-brass center. Can or should this set be opened or should I just go find another 1993 set?
I have not. Smoke is the worst I have encountered. I don't understand why people smoke, but I especially don't understand how they could expose their collectibles to their smoke.
I have also received packages that smelled like cigarettes (fortunately no mold). The people don't necessarily expose the collectibles to smoke, but when a home has a heavy smoker, it seeps through everything. Plus the envelopes used to mail the coins often are exposed to the smoke even if the coin isn't.
The green could be due to moisture (oxidation) or chemical damage due to the materials it was stored in. Chemical damage can be made worse accelerated due to excessive moisture. If the coin is sticky it is definitely due to chemical damage and the coin should be cleaned, and the damage removed to stop further deterioration. Sounds like these were stored in a damp place since they smell moldy.
I have encountered what I would call "musty" smell, which I have thought was from being stored in a high humidity basement environment. Rather unacceptable to me, and I have run into it on books/magazines as well as coin-related cardboard/paper. I have lessened the awful smell by taking a damp rag with Pine-Sol on it to the book covers (carefully!), and by placing the items into a Ziploc bag with charcoal briquettes. Best approach is to just avoid acquiring items with the musty smell.
