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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Richard M. Renneboog, post: 2851436, member: 89693&quot;]Cardboard is a lot more than just cellulose fibers pressed together. Cellulose itself is chemically related to reactive things called aldehydes, which are only slightly removed from being acids like those used to make polyesters. Cellulose also contains a large number of &#039;hydroxyl&#039; groups (a hydrogen atom attached to an oxygen atom). These can, and do, have the ability to act as very weak acids by separating the hydrogen atom from the oxygen atom, and to simply form an attraction between the oxygen atoms and the metal atoms of the coin. There are also residual traces of the chlorine or peroxide bleaches used in the original processing of the cellulose fibers, and more importantly, there is whatever &#039;glue&#039; (for lack of a better word) that has been used to bind the fibers together when they are pressed together into the cardboard stock. Don&#039;t forget also that the Whitman books are open to the air, which is composed primarily of inert nitrogen and very reactive oxygen, but also contains small proportions of any number of other gases, some of which are very reactive with metals. Including chlorine and ozone. Really, what the air you and your coins are exposed to as a matter of course is a real witch&#039;s brew of things, varying from day to day and the local environment. Only gold and platinum bullion coins won&#039;t become tarnished in whatever storage container you choose, simply because those two metals are almost entirely inert and will only react chemically under very specialized conditions.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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