I think you may find that a composite key on two INTEGERs is faster than a single VARCHAR key (and smaller as well). Besides the composite key allows easier gathering of history for a single item. Compare:

SELECT *
FROM tablename
WHERE key = 12345
ORDER BY version;
[download]

and

SELECT *
FROM tablename
WHERE key LIKE '12345,%'
ORDER BY key;
[download]

The first most likely will get to use an index on key (especially if you build the index with key first and version second) and the second is most likely a table scan. Here are the singleton selects for the current version

SELECT *
FROM tablename o
WHERE key = ?
  AND version = (
        SELECT max(version)
        FROM tablename i
        WHERE i.key = o.key
)
[download]

vs.

SELECT *
FROM tablename
WHERE key = (
        SELECT max(key)
        FROM tablename
        WHERE key LIKE '$key,%'
)
[download]

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