Like others commenting here I do love the current holder. I have always wondered about hobby standards vs. "best practices" for archival-quality encapsulation / storage / display etc. Here's the card I had dual-graded at the National: https://cardhoundvintage.com/cgc-x-jsa-grading-review/
The CGC site makes reference to "the most advanced archival materials" but does not elaborate much--is there anything nonproprietary to expand on there?
When PSA upgraded to UV resistance this year I was surprised that that was not already a hobby standard. They also now claim "Ultra impermeable to heat, humidity, water" in addition to UV.
Are your current slabs UV resistant? Do you / will you offer stated UV protection at some point? I would pay more for it, personally. It's not like I'm sitting my cards in the sun or anything, but I do like to have some cards out / visible, and doing so without worry would be best. I don't like needing to bag them, etc.
I know there is SOME UV protection built into any good acrylic, but probably not enough to market around. And maybe touting it creates the appearance of some liability or something.
Do you ever use internal sleeves? Are they Mylar? Etc. I think "the hobby" in general accepts a fairly low bar as far as true archival practices goes.
@chvadmin The blend of plastic in our holders is proprietary, but what I can say is that the plastic is archival as well as the material in any sleeves we may use.
One great benefit for CGC Cards is having the rest of Certified Collectibles Group as support. When we began to design the card holder, we had decades of experience in archival holders through NGC, CGC Comics and PMG paper money to lean on. We weren't reinventing the wheel. We already knew what was important and what was not in making a holder.
In the coin world, materials that are in direct contact with coins have to be inert and archival. Otherwise, there is risk in environmental damage to the metals of the coins.
While there is some UV protection, there has to be a balance between adding UV protection and the appearance of the holder. The addition of chemicals to achieve UV protection alters the color of the holder which in turn alters the appearance of the card.
Security is just as important as being archival and it is one area that cannot be compromised.
