gubni wrote:I recently bought several large cents. They were stored in clear plastic sleeves in a binder. They Coins are turning green where they touched the plastic and generally feel sticky. What's the best way to deal with this?
PS sorry I didn't know what to search for.
The green stuff is called verdigris and it is caused by a chemical reaction with the plastic sleeves they are stored in. The sleeves are probably PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride) that has a chemical reaction with most metals it comes into contact with.
First stop is to get NON PVC flips to store the coins in. There isn't really a good way to prevent or erase the corrosion that has occurred, but you can soak them in acetone and see if some of it will come off naturally with the soak. This will strip some of the luster off so if these are higher grade coins don't do that.
Do NOT scrap at the green stuff to get it off, as you will scratch the coin.
Posted: Sun Sep 20, 2015 8:22 pm