Paper Money Storage Options - Help Me Pick!

hyperinflated

Hello,

I'm new to this hooby. I've always appreciated the art of paper money and it's cultural/historical significance to each country. At some point, I started looking into hypoerinflation notes after the 100 Trillion note. As of now, I have a lot of great PMG graded notes which are sealed, and which I keep in supersafe graded currency pages.

However, I'm branching out to include foreign banknote sets, unc, and am not sure how to store ungraded notes.

After looking everywhere online, and learning that mylar offers the edge over bcw products in terms of archival protection, I've decided these are my options:

1. bcw sleeve (2mil) in bcw deluxe sleeve
2. bcw sleeve in bcw toploader
3. bcw sleeve in bcw page
4. supersafe hw (NPH240)
5. supersafe standard (NPS340) in bcw page

1 and #2, some people say the bcw sleeves don't fit in their deluxe sleeves and toploaders without wrinkling the note.

3 I've seen some people complain about bill curling with bcw 2mil sleeves.

4. The Supersafe Heavyweight sleeves (10mil front and 15 mil back) are made of profar polyester, which Google articles tell me is a non-name brand mylar. So they don't require an internal sleeve too. Is that correct? I could just put the bill straight in these and keep them in a large currency storage box?

Thanks for any help. Nobody really agrees online. So I'm hoping a few people will chime in, and maybe even have a unanimous verdict.

element159

I personally use Mylar sleeves for all my notes, I have never had problems with things curling. I then usually put these into some kind of album notebook page, but they would be ok in a storage box like that.

hyperinflated

@element159 said:
I personally use Mylar sleeves for all my notes, I have never had problems with things curling. I then usually put these into some kind of album notebook page, but they would be ok in a storage box like that.

Thanks.

I hadn't heard that mylar sleeves cause curling, just the BCW 2mil sleeves (which aren't mylar).

So what brand do you use? Supersafe? And they are firm enough to keep in a box?

I ordered some singals of all of the supersafe options last night. But what is your view?

Serial_no_8

Mylar currency sleeves are one of the first brands which got rid of the PVC or acids in the vinyl & are considered museum safe. These terms (Mylar, museum safe or PVC-free) are what you are looking for. This means that the acids in the vinyl will not react with paper. The leaching process takes about 10-20 years. Supersafe, BCW, Lighthouse, Safeguard, & any top brand name that is PVC free should be fine. Most local coin shops or LCS will only sell museum grade sleeves & pages today.

Check this link for another discussion on the various types of sleeves that collectors use.

ALSO be aware that storing your banknotes in museum safe sleeves IS NOT the only precaution a collector must take. You must also store coins/notes in a very dry place because humidity (moisture) can be more damaging to notes (& coins quicker) than PVC leaching over 10-20 years.

element159

Mylar is not vinyl, it is a different chemical compound. I personally bought my Mylar holders from Tom Denly, but that might not be the best source anymore.

hyperinflated

Wizard Coin said that Supersafe mylar heavyweight sleeves require no inner sleeves. So that seems like the best of all things. I kind of like putting notes in a binder, because I can see three at a time, but the hw mylar is rigid, can be stored in large currency boxes, and doesn't require additional sleeves (so simpler and costs less than, say, sleeves plus top loaders).

So I guess I'm going with those... BCW sleeves + BCW pages would be the best alternative for my likes/needs.

Steve_in_Tampa

I used to buy my sleeves from member @sellitstore, maybe he’ll see this thread and chime in.

hyperinflated

@Steve_in_Tampa said:
I used to buy my sleeves from member @sellitstore, maybe he’ll see this thread and chime in.

Or not, but thanks anyway.