smoke and old flips

[arizonarobin]

I have some coins that are in flips with inserts that smell like cigarette smoke.
If anyone has any suggestions on these questions I would appreciate it:

1. Is it safe to say that if something was collected and flipped in the 60s and 70s that the flip should be replaced?
2. I would like to save the inserts even though they have yellowed and smell of smoke. Does anyone know of a way to get the smell out of the inserts or do I just live with it?
3. Some of the coins also smell like smoke- should I give each one a distilled water/ brush?
4. A very few seem to leave a sticky green imprint on the flip- could this be from the long time in the flip? Should these be treated any different?

Any advise is appreciated!

[renegade3220]

The flips you are describing contain PVC and are therefore not archival safe. The green sticky substance is due to the PVC in the flips with contact to the coin.

I would toss the flips. They are unsafe and smell anyway.

As far as the inserts and coins, I would personally do everything in my power to get the smell out. I would do water soaks and scrubs on the coins to see if that worked. As far as the paper, possibly a light mist of febreeze and a nice sunny windowsill?  If I couldn't get it out I would toss them but that is because I couldn't stand the smoke smell.

[areich]

The green sticky stuff usually comes off after a bath in acetone. There's a well known seller here that insists on keeping their coins in non-PVC-free flips so an acetone bath is always necessary when buying from them. I have no idea if it's a gigantic older collection they've been selling for years or whether it happens so quickly to the new coins. After the bath, which may need to last a few hours, the coins will probably be dull and unpleasant to touch. This is remedied by either rubbing them between your fingers, if you can stand it and it's just a few coins or by rubbing them with a very tiny amount of oil.

[arizonarobin]

Thank you both!
I am going to try the febreeze, I really want to save the old inserts.

I am in the process of changing out all the flips.

Thank you areich, I will try the acetone baths, thankfully it is only a few.

This may take all week.. lol