Im not sure if anyone is familiar with this brand of 2x2 plastic flips. I picked up a unopened bag for $6 for some junk world coins and was wondering if anyone knew if they were PVC Free. These are the exact ones but the site doesnt say about the PVC. http://www.translinesupply.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=6638 Thanks!
I am fairly sure they are not PVC safe. Sniff one to see if the have the "Vinyl Shower curtain" smell. If so, the plasticizer level is high enough to eventually cause PVC damage. If there is basically no smell, they may have lowered levels or are older stock that has vented most of the plasticizer.
Well I smelled them and there isnt any smell to it so I guess thats good. These are just for junk coins I dont wanna waste coin world slabs on & I dont like air-ties. Plus world coins are odd sized compared to U.S.
I dunno, it say vinyl on the packaging..and doesn't yinyl=PVC? iI think it says below, vinyl cointains polymer, and polymar is PVC. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinyl
Yea....and tubes would be even cheaper. My "junk" resides mostly in tubes. Personally, I hate those "flips" since they let far too much air in. The only thing they're good for is sending a coin in for grading.
Eh it figures. It was only $6. Probably just use them then for coins I sell and so on. Thanks for the replies.
The green death, PVC It states on the packaging that they are vinyl flips. That means poly vinyl chloride or PVC. And it does smell like a shower curtain.Some say it's OK to use them for shipping or short term storage. I disagree. Here's why. I think sharp edges as found on some uncirculated and more often on proof coin can shave off tiny pieces of the flip when they move around inside. I'm pretty sure this happens with the hard flips because you can see the little pieces and specks of plastic and scratches inside the flip, no? It's not a big problem with inert flips,but these tiniest of pieces, easily overlooked, can cause BIG problems for your prized coins. PVC residue can be removed, or so says NCS (National Conservation Service), that worked with NGC untill recently when NGC bought them out. But the damaged to the coins surface cannot be repaired. And if the cleaning (oops, I mean conservation) is improperly or incompletely done the PVC will grow back and destroy whats left of your coin. The green death is real and it is caused by PVC. This we know. So why gamble? I'm not sure but I suspect that coins in paper envelopes stored in vinyl flips are also in danger from the vapors. (can you smell it?) .... Thanks MAT for a good question on an important and too often overlooked topic.. .. my opinion, I welcome further discussion.
Mat - do you store your junk coins in the same place that you store your good coins ? If you do, those flips can do just as much damage to your good coins as if the good coins were in those flips. When the plasicizer in the PVC flips breaks down it turns into a gas. And if those flips are in a box, a safe or any enclosed container, then every coin that is in that container will be affected by that gas. So the flip does not even have to be touching a coin to damage that coin. It merely has to be in the same space.
