What is PVC??

nit4alaf

I'm here again with more questions. While my spreadsheet program was on the fritz, I made good use of this board. I searched and read everything I could on dipping and toning all the way back to 2002. Which leads me to my questions.

1. What is/are PVC? And where do they come from and what effect do they have on coins?
2. Once a fingerprint is on a coin, is it there forever?


Thanks

Linda

blastpak

Good questions Linda but I don't know the answers. I've been here awhile but I'm still just getting into collecting and still learning myself.

XpipedreamR

PVC is a type of plastic that flips are made out of. Some contain a plasticizer that makes the flip soft and pliable, and can eat away the coin. The PVC itself can also destroy the coin over time.

nit4alaf

Now I have to ask what a flip is?

BAJJERFAN

PVC is polyvinyl chloride, a plastic which is hard and brittle and nearly useless in that form. A plasticizer like di-octyl phthlate or di-nonyl phthlate is added to make it soft and flexible and therefore more useful. It is used to make the one of the clear flips in which coins are often stored as. Because it is a somewhat reactive chlorocarbon it is susceptible to reaction with water and active metal surfaces like copper and silver. Pure silver coins will show white hazy surfaces after storage in PVC while copper containing coins have a pale greenish coloration where PVC reaction has taken place. Prolonged contact with PVC will etch the coin's surface and ruin or reduce the value of the coin. If discovered early washing/dipping with pure acetone will generally remove the offending substance with no harm done.

USE THE MYLAR FLIPS!!!

TomB

PVC is short for Polyvinyl Chloride, which is present in many soft, non-foodgrade plastics. PVC is inherently unstable over long periods of time and will, in ambient humidity and temperatures, break down to release minute quantities of hydrochloric acid. Coins that are stored in PVC-containing flips will be exposed to these small amounts of HCl and, over time, the coins will become pitted and discolored from the process.

BAJJERFAN

Fingerprints can be removed if discovered early, but if they have been on a long time it is hard to remove them without some evidence of their existence remaining to piss off the current or next owner of the coin.

dizzyfoxx

I thought PVC stood for Pretty and Voluptuous Commem!!!