Does anyone know if you put coins into a vacuum container (such as the FoodSaver containers) for a long time and then take them out, do the coins suffer from rapid corrosion when reintroduced to the air? Thanks.
I cannot think of any reason why, after being removed from a vacuum, they would experience corrosion at a greater rate than any other coin.
Vaccum vs cold Did the coins get stored in a different temp environment?.....like your freezer? Anyone going through the vacuum trouble might also place them in their freezer, thus making them acquire condensation when removed. Just askin'.
The problem is the contaminants on the surface of the coin. Any preexisting issues, however microscopic, will have an unlimited environment in which to thrive in vacuum.
A vacuum process would remove any gaseous components such as sulfur or oxygen, and water vapor. Without these, any corrosive or toning processes would stop completely at the stage when they were inserted and vacuum was applied. As long as the container didn't outgas any corrosive chemical and the vacuum was maintained ( the harder part), the coin would not tone or corrode any further. Some have looked at corrosion as a process which can continue on its own independently once it has established, but to continue it needs additional exposure, and the vacuum prevents this. Jim
Coins kept in a vacuum for an extensive period of time and then exposed to a new invironment will suddenly turn to dust, become really ugly or jsut really sick. The reason is when they were first put away, the germs and bacteria of that age are different than today. Their metalic makeup will not have a method to fight off new germs and bacteria. All excessively silly of course. I've been putting most of my coin in plastic bags for a long, long time. I started this way back when I was a kid. Many rolls of coins have had the tops taped shut to make sure no air leaks in. When Zip Lock bags were invented I started to use those for all my Albums. I push out as much air as possible, then seal. I constantly open those to upgrade coins though and so far no problems of any kind. I recently opened some rolls of 1943 Steel Cents to examine them for possible errors since they were put there when I was a kid and never heard of error coins. Those too show no signs of anything. Naturally I tried not to breath on them since I just had a Burger with Onions.
