PVC question on Ancient silver coins

ahopewell55

I've noticed that a fair amount of ancient silver coins seem to have a greenish tint or outline along the features. The Heritage blow-ups show it clearly. Is this PVC? Some form of verdigris? Or what is it? I would like to get a nice Ancient type coin but don't want to have one with PVC. Thanks for any advice.

bronzemat

Could be PVC, could be verdigris, could be some patina that was forming or just copper deposits that are harmless. Posting photos would help for whatever types your interested in.

harasha

Years ago, back in the late 60s and into the 70s, I collected ancients. At the time, the dangers of PVC were not well known and like many other collectors, I stored my coins in those clear vinyl flips. Until one day, I went to my safe deposit box and discovered all the silver coated with gunk, more or less.
I suspect that many ancients on the market have been around for quite some time, including the period of unsafe vinyl flips. Probably suffered the same fate as mine.

LochNESS

One thing about ancients that many collectors seem to overlook ... they've all been cleaned at some point over the centuries (or millennia), and likely more than once. Therefore I don't see any harm in bathing them again to remove verdigris. Just do it correctly. If you don't know how, hire a service.