Set collectors, what do you do with sets that contain PVC in packaging?

Dear Collectors!

Unfortunately, some countries have been using PVC plastic in their sets, which has detrimental impact on the coins. In some cases, it is possible to simply take the coins out, which solves this problem. For example in case of early French FDC sets.

But what do you do if taking them out is not as simple?

I'd like to bring a 2004 Bahrain set as an example:

What would you do in this case?

Should I try to save the coins, while trying to damage the paper of the booklet minimally? I think it is possible to take out the plastic holder quite safely, because the glue holding the paper together is not strong. Would this reduce the value of the set?

Or should I just leave it as is?

Thank you for your answers!

If I would care about the cardboard (I don't), I would take a scalpel (or something comparably nimble and sharp) and cut the coins out then clean the gunk of.

2 words

LIBERATE IT!

Every day those coins spend in it, is making them more worn and worse.

A lot of pre 1990s coin sets used cheap and horrible PVC fillers. In NZ and many commonwealth places, mint sets or standard UNC (The cheaper non proof ones) used the nastiest Pliofilm wrappers and then PVC soft plastic. Incredibly the coins survived welll except the copper/bronze ones, which are always tarnished.

These are what 55 years of bad storage in cheap materials does. 1960s “Pliofilm packet”.

Even later sets are not immune, many later Royal Mint products had cheap glue to seal the hard plastic shells and coins have got tarnished in the air getting in.

This 1986 UK Uncirculated se had the plastic shell open up and the penny got real tarnished. My complaint to the dealer got me banned from his online shop!