I would like some advice on purchasing the best coin holder for cents. Is a 2x2 mylar/cardboard flip cent =size the way to go? Thanks.
Depends on price and appearance you want. The 2x2 cardboard/mylar flips keep the coins nicely, but the 2x2 all mylar flips show the coins much better at a higher cost.
There is no question that 2x2's with staples is the cheapest way to go (initially!). However, I prefer the 2-pocket Saflips for their greater versatility. > The second pocket allows you to record information on an insert, but if you learn that your info is incorrect, you simply replace the insert with a corrected one. If you make a mistake on a 2x2, you have to cut it open to replace it. > Unlike the 2x2, a coin can be easily removed from a Saflip to take photos without damaging the holder. A photo of a coin in a 2x2 often has pesky spots of glare around the edge. Chris
It kind of depends on the value of the coin and therefore how much protection the cent "deserves". When I find "nifty" coins in my pocket change, they usually end up in mylar/cardboard 2x2s. If I spend good folding money on a coin at a coin show I will usually put it in a harder case (assuming it isn't slabbed) so that normal handling by uninitiated bystanders won't risk damage to the coin. Make sure you get a "flat clinch" stapler for closing the mylar/cardboard flips. This keeps the backs of the staples from poking out and possibly scratching the next coin behind them.
It depends upon the number of coins you plan on keeping since a 2x2 can actually take up a lot of space. Many. many years ago, I started putting "collected" coin in 2x2 cardboard holders. After about a thousand or more, I decided that 2x2 was NOT the way to go and changed over to 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 cardboard flips. I captured back twice as much space in my safe's. Today, the ONLY item which goes in a 2x2 are my Kennedy Half Dollars, IKE Dollars and Silver Dollars. As for 2x2 Mylar flips without the cardboard, those are fine but they DO scuff up and the scuffing ALWAYS occurs right over the coin.
Even though Doug (GDRMSP) doesn't agree, a test that works to distinguish between PVC and Polyester (Mylar) is to heat up a copper wire in a flame, touch it hot to a corner of the flip (you'll probably ruin the flip) until some of the material melts on the wire, and then return the wire to a flame and look for a green color (indicating a halogen - chlorine). The PVC is objectionable because of added materials (plasticizers) which can leech out and mess the coin up, and it will give off HCl (gas from hydrochloric acid) as it decomposes. (Thank goodness for parenthesis)
Yup, and the mylar ones have sharp edges that can scratch the coins when they are put into or taken out of the flips. So you have to be careful with them too. And the cardboard 2x2s, and the 1 1/2x1 1/2, they both produce cardboard dust that causes spotting on the coins. I've said it a hundred times, just about all of the holders used to store coins have one sort of problem or another that can harm the coins, and some of them have several problems. The only holders that don't have problems are the hard plastic holders.
I only use 2 x 2's for nice but lower priced coins. I try to avoid Mylar. Hard cases when I have a nice coin to protect or I buy a Registry coin. All reasons listed in previous responses convey my thoughts.
Which is why I either vacuum the mylar side off OR use tape to remove dust that is statically charged.
Saflips (Mylar 2x2 & 2.5x2.5) are my choice for just about everything. Lots of coins have been ruined when extracting them from stapled cardboard flips.
To remove coins from 2X2s just puncture the window with a penknife or exacto knife in the space between the coin and the cardboard. You're going to throw away the 2X2 anyway, so need to damage your coin at all.
Which flips, the 2x2 cardboards or the SafeFlips, they are both Mylar...BTW, the hard holders are...drum roll...Mylar.
