Do 2x2 Holders Cause PVC Damage?

Vinyl flips are pretty common but I don't think most 2x2 cardboard holders use vinyl. Usually they're mylar or some other kind of plastic.

A large part of my collection comes from when I first got interested in coin collecting as a kid in the mid-80s. After I went to college a fell out of the hobby, but got back into it again a couple years ago. So most of those coins have been sitting in the same 2x2's for 25 years and look as good as they did back then without the slightest sign of PVC (since they don't contain PVC!) or other damage from the holder.

I just thought of something... the cardboard 2x2's with the mylar (crinkly plastic) windows are just fine. However, they make 2x2 PVC holders which are bad for long term storage. It is very easy to tell the difference as the PVC ones are all plastic (no cardboard) and are thicker than the mylar ones. That might be what you heard about.

That's not what I'm saying Merclover. I've been buying some coins on ebay, and some sellers send the coins in 2x2 PVC holders. No cardboard, no mylar, just PVC. It is no big deal for shipping purposes since it is just a few days, but if someone didn't know and kept it in there long term you could have problems.

I just did some research on the internet. Of the two flips I have lying around, I'm sure one is PVC, the other may or may not be. If it is very soft and flexible it is PVC. If it is a bit more brittle and can crease or tear early it might not be PVC, but it could be a low PVC flip too. The low PVC flip would probably give you longer without problems but still, PVC is PVC. The other type is safe, but like you say, unless it is stated on the flip you don't know. Personally, I don't want to take that chance so I always put it in a mylar flip after it arrives.

A good coin dealer probably wouldn't knowingly use PVC, but there are plenty of bad ones out there (or folks on ebay that don't know what they are doing). I believe PVC flips are cheaper than the PVC free type (at least when comparing the all soft plastic types) so that is the reason they would still use it. Keep in mind that it is easy to rationalize by saying to yourself that it will take years if not decades for damage to show. The benign thought would be "surely they will take it out of the flip before then". The more malicious thought would be "it saves me money and it will be so long before damage occurs that they could never pin it on me anyway".

I occasionally come across cardboard 2x2s with PVC windows. Usually they are coins in 2x2s that have been around for 30+ years. A few years ago I accidentally bought some new ones from a dealer, so some unknown manufacturer out there may still making cardboard 2x2s with PVC.

Cardboard 2x2s with PVC windows have a soft flexible window. You can push into the window & it will distort & bend. A mylar window will break before distorting much. An easy test for a new 2x2 is to look through the window to a distance - mylar windows are completely transparent, whereas PVC windows are murky.

It's worth getting some PVC flips and some made of mylar and other materials just so you know what they look and feel like. Once you've seen/felt them side-by-side you'll never confuse them again. They are very different in-hand.

Maybe somebody should put together a sample pack of different kinds of plastics and we can mail it around so everyone can get a handle on this.

2X2 PVC flips are easy to find and are still commonly used by dealer and even the major auction houses on any raw coins that they sell. Why? They are cheap, and very flexible. If the flip is going to be frequently handled, such as at lot viewing, the Mylar flips have the problem that they are more brittle and with a lot of handling tend to split, allowing the coin to fall out.

I have been using 2X2's for almost 40 years and probably over 99% of them have used Mylar windows. Most of that other 1% were even older 2X2's that used cellophane which is also safe. Very very few have had PVC windows. Usually the reason people think that the 2X2 has caused a problem is when they find a coin leaving an oily impression on the plastic or with green slime in a 2X2. But the reason for this is the coin was either oiled before it was put in the holder, or it already had PVC residue contamination on the coin from a PVC flip when it was put in the 2X2 and the reaction continued in the new holder.