Bcw Rigid Toploaders, Are They Safe?

People use PVC because it's cheap, but PVC in its natural, unmodified state is both extremely rigid and translucent, rather than transparent. To turn it into the flexible clear plastic film you often see in coin and banknote album pages, it has to be pumped full of plasticizers - and it is these plasticizers, rather than the PVC itself, that cause the damage when they degrade into acidic compounds that corrode metal and attack paper. This is why they're so keen on advertising their "plasticizer-free" status.

I can't tell from the pics, but if they really are using plasticizer-free PVC, then it should in theory be as safe to use as any other plastic. However, it will still be translucent, making any notes put into them look slightly blurry and faded. A product made from something that is much more transparent (like the stuff the TPGs use) would probably have more eye appeal.

I started an experiment with these exact same holders 2 years ago...Inserted a ChCu $1 note from a sealed BEP package..

Experiment still in progress.

Last time I checked it was about 5 or 6 months ago as my notes are in storage so to say.

My concern with these was that too me...it seemed like they had some "slick residue" on the outside. From my experience of dealing with serious collectors they use Mylar sleeves...which is what I use as well.

Mylar sleeves are a bit more expensive....and to me it's worth the added expense.

Hope this helps

I was looking into BCW. But ended up not buying their bill holders because of the PVC. They [BCW sleeves] may be really good, but after all the negative publicity PVC has received, why chance it with your collection.

I'm not saying that the PVC in the BCW holders will damage bills. I just would want to risk it knowing there are similar holders made of PET and boPET. Also I'm not holding extremely valuable bills.