Should 2x2's Be Used Instead Of The Sleeves From The Mint?

2 X 2 holders are not without some problems, so be careful. I had a coin in a 2 X 2 as purchased from a good dealer, and another 2 X 2 must have had a staple tear a small 1 or 2 mm hole in it. The staple did not immediate damage, but environmental damage in the form of a carbon spot showed up directly beneath the tear. The value plummeted.

No, that's a cellophane-wrapped American mint set. Australian coins have never been packaged like this (though I wish they were, back in the 1960s and 1970s - the coins would have kept much better than the PVC-laced folders the RAM used). The "sleeves" being discussed here are the little open (unsealed) cardboard-and-mylar holders that the RAM sells certain kinds of coins in, such as the "mint-your-own" dollars. Keep your American mint set in the cellophane, unless it's too bulky or awkward to store or the cellophane has become torn or damaged; it's done a pretty good job of protecting your coins up till now and will likely keep on doing so for another century or more.


"Tarnish" and "toning" are, chemically, exactly the same thing - an oxide/sulfide layer on the surface of a coin. "Tarnish" is more usually applied just for silver coins. But for silver coins, whether the word "tarnish" or "toning" is used depends on whether or not the coin has been made more or less beautiful because of the oxide layer. And, since "beauty is in the eye of the beholder", one man's ugly tarnish can easily be another man's beautiful toning.


Very few things are completely "airtight" - even slabs will slowly let air and moisture in. The key word is "slowly". You want to minimize the exchange of molecules between the air trapped next to the coin and the rest of the atmosphere. A stapled 2x2 is better than no 2x2 at all, and better than the "sleeves" the RAM sells the coins in. In my experience the sleeves do not prevent air reaching the face of the coin, so the entire coin can become toned. A well-fitting stapled 2x2 has a pretty tight seal around the rim of the coin; air can get at and react with the rim (again, slowly, since it isn't easy for air to flow through a well-stapled 2x2), but the two faces are left pretty well alone.

Of course, since moisture and sulfur in the air are far more hazardous to a bright shiny coin than plain old oxygen, the best thing is to try to minimize the amount of moisture and sulfur in the air to begin with. Storing dessicants in a tightly-sealed box with your coins, keeping your air-conditioner running on "dehumidify" and moving to Oodnadatta or some other really dry place are things that will help reduce exposure to moisture; stop cooking eggs and garlic, move away from the steel refinery and avoid storing the coins with yellow paper or rubber bands will all help minimize exposure to sulfur.

... Duh, left out my main query about storing my noodled coins ...

Saflips or 2 x 2s?

Which I then store in either sealed shoe boxes or plastic storage containers.

Thanks Sap, for all the info.
I hadn't thought about the dessicant gel option. I already buy dessicant gel kitty litter and will now divert some of that (clean of course ) into suitable containers and place in my coin boxes.

Put coins in 2x2 holder then when selling coins put in original sleeves if they last this long or but new ones.

Gee,for a second or 2 at the top of the Thread I thought 'Trout' was back.

Lighthouse(not ebay Chinese) 2x2 have survived the test of time,adhesive types provide the best seal,throw stainless steel staples in if you want to be sure over long periods of time.
All just MO over 60 years of collecting.

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.

Sap, could you please ask the RAM yourself if the coin capsules they use,like the one above that holds the 2021 Tooth Fairy coin, are PVC ?
Seems my response from Allie at the RAM needs to be re-affirmed by someone else.


So in theory, it is safe to store all coins in the original packaging from the RAM even if it is PVC. Except the UNC coins that came in Mint Wallets pre 1983?