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Posted 01/28/2023 02:38 am
Quote:
I recently asked the RAM if the capsules were safe for long term storage and if the plastic was PVC.
Bit confused as to why the RAM would continue to use PVC ?
I guess it is cheaper to do so but it seems no one has told them to stop it.
Coin collectors on this forum bang on about the degradation of coins left in PVC holders.
Do other countries use PVC holders to house brand new coins?
I recently asked the RAM if the capsules were safe for long term storage and if the plastic was PVC.
Bit confused as to why the RAM would continue to use PVC ?
I guess it is cheaper to do so but it seems no one has told them to stop it.
Coin collectors on this forum bang on about the degradation of coins left in PVC holders.
Do other countries use PVC holders to house brand new coins?
To the best of my knowledge, the RAM has not used PVC since it stopped making the plastic wallets for mint sets, 1983 I believe was the last year. The hard plastic blister packs are PVC free. The RAM was probably one of the last mints to switch out from using PVC in mint packaging.
PVC itself isn't the problem, when it comes to reacting with metal. Pure PVC is a hard, brittle, translucent solid. To make it soft and rubbery (and therefore suitable to use in a coin album page or mint wallet) they have to add plasticizer, usually an acid-phthalate plasticizer. It is this acidic plasticizer that slowly leaches out of the plastic over time and damages coins, especially in warm, humid environments.
If the plastic is transparent but not soft and flexible, then it's not PVC.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
