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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;cladking, post: 884011, member: 68&quot;]There&#039;s not a lot to say really except that the inside layer of plastic is extremely thin, extremely soft, and burns with a green flame.&nbsp; I assume it has the harmful plasticizert in it.&nbsp; The grading companies do return some mint set coins as being ungradable because of this plasticizer being on the coins.&nbsp; I don&#039;t know for certain that it was used up until 1984 but there is no apparent change in it until the mylar came out in 1985.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>The first years of the mint sets you&#039;ll sometimes have these plastic layers delaminate and on rare occassion a whole outside sheet will peel right off.&nbsp; This is might be caused by a prolonged exposure to high moisture enviroment but I have little confidence since it is so rare.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>The early mint set years are far more affected than later ones and this isn&#039;t solely caused by age since the earlier dates have been degrading at a fairly constant rate for much longer than the later dates.&nbsp; It&#039;s not solely caused by packaging either because the problem varies between dates and denominations.&nbsp; I have stabilized a few of the &#039;68 cents by soaking them in alcohol since even before they all started going bad and this is only mostly effective.&nbsp; There appears to have been something in the minting and planchet handling process that is the primary source of the problem at least for the &#039;68-P cent. These coins were washed and dried before being sealed&nbsp; but I would think the alcohol would be 100% effective if the problem was with this process.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>A lot of the later Ikes turn dark and some of the nickels get problems as well.&nbsp; I do still keep some coins in the packaging but I&#039;m not sure this is wise.&nbsp; I do keep air away and avoid temperature changes.&nbsp; I&#039;m counting on my ability to spot problems before they arise but this is very risky.&nbsp; I lost all my &#039;69-D gem mint sets a few years back because they suddenly turned.&nbsp; This is still heartbreaking and &#039;69-D is one of my favorite dates.&nbsp; The individual coins cut from these sets are still mostly OK and the stabilized coins are OK but I lost all twenty of the gem sets. </p><p><br /></p><p>I now consider all mint set packaging highly suspect until proven otherwise.&nbsp; A lot of the foreign sets are simply attrocious and the coins will be completely ruined if left in them. The mid-&#039;70&#039;s Japanese packaging and mid-&#039;60&#039;s French are among the worst.&nbsp; Some of the Russian sets are main contenders and as a rule of thumb you should never allow coins to come into contact with foam rubber.&nbsp; If it is then stabilize it and holder it.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>So many of these moderns were rare even before they went bad because they didn&#039;t appear in mint sets and now a lot of mint sets are going bad.&nbsp; Collectors really need to pay more attention to how coins are packaged before and after they acquire them.&nbsp; There are so many high quality protection systems available now days but perhaps never before have there been so many horrible ones as well.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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