Q & A: Adhesive 2 x 2 versus Staple 2 x 2's

October 5, 2009


Question:
Hi, Why do you find the self adhesive 2x2 coin holders harmful to the coin. I know people are unsure of what the glue is made from but ive used them on a majority of my coins and the seal on them is great and they sit in my albums and none have popped open. I even pulled one out of the folder and tried to pry open the holder to see if the adhesive had become unbonded in anyway and it was still tightly stuck together. I don't like staples purely because they can scratch ( i know you can use pliers to flatten them) and the staples overtime will rust. Just interested to get your opinion because if i find that my collection is in danger due to the self adhesive on the holders then i will have to consider re holdering them (which should be alot of fun work hehe) Kind Regards
Answer:
I have seen many many adhesive 2x2's lose their "togetherness" and expose the coin to the elements. Some coins I have received in the post have had the coin in the open adhesive 2x2, the coin stuck to the adhesive. I have heard stories of coins dropping to the floor and being damaged from 2x2's opening up. I have seen stock at coin shops and shows in opened adhesive holders. It's not known what the adhesive does to the coins. It will certainly leave a residue on the coin if it's in contact with it, this will create toning. I prefer to leave all that questionable adhesive behind and use staple 2 x2 's. You can get flat clinching staplers that leave the staple flat and I just take a bit of care when holdering up the coin. I don't think there can be to much issue with the actual staples as they are metal..and...so is the coin! I reholdered my entire mintmark dollar collection last year, it was a big job, getting rid of the pvc pages as well as the adhesive 2x2's - some of the coins were ruined due to pvc damage. I'm surprised you haven't had ANY 2x2's come open, maybe it's the humidity or something where you live. Regards, The australian-threepence.com team
Please note that in the interest of anonymity we always remove names so that we can share our questions and answers with everyone.

Posted by harrisk at October 5, 2009 9:24 AM
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