How would you improve slab boxes? aka another project for my 3D printer

While I've been busy building out version 4 of my AI coin-sorting robot, I've gained a lot of experience creating 3D models in Fusion. An interesting thing I've noted over the years is the variety of opinions on slab box designs. There was a lot of anticipation about what design CAC would go with.

Now that I have a 3D printer, I'm wondering if there is a new design that would make the lives of collectors and dealers easier.



I'm looking to design and test new layouts based on the community's needs. For folks who are open to sharing their feedback, I'll ship out these prototypes for free.

Some questions on top of my head

• What are the biggest issues with today's designs, and how are you addressing them now?
• Are you more of a collector or dealer?
• Ideally, how many slabs should a box hold to best meet your needs?
• Would you want your boxes to be personalized, like with your company name or name?
• Interested in having me ship out a prototype for you to test out?

 

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Congrat's on the printer! I have two boxes of coins that have a single divider. I'd like more so they don't slide around and fall flat down on the box.
. Just a leisure collector.
. About a hundred per box.
Yes, I'll try one out. I like doing reviews.

 

Some questions on top of my head

• What are the biggest issues with today's designs, and how are you addressing them now? I don't see any negative issues
• Are you more of a collector or dealer? I'm Definitely a collector
• 
• Ideally, how many slabs should a box hold to best meet your needs? 20 is fine. Anymore and it would be too heavy!
• Would you want your boxes to be personalized, like with your company name or name? Nope
• Interested in having me ship out a prototype for you to test out? Not really, It's ok. Thanks

 

I'll chime in here. I have now purchased two slab boxes. Both have been given away and I have my slabs stored in Tupperware boxes

1. The obvious issue but still needs to be said... The box must be able to accommodate all slabs.
2. The top should close tightly (similar to Tupperware) to assist in controlling the inside environment.
3. This is the big one for me. I have no idea if the inside dimensions of safes are uniform or not. But each slab box I have purchased would not allow my safe door to close.

Don't care anything about personalization, however the addition of one of those little tags (air tags?)... The kind that locate your dog or lost keys with your phone sort of thing. Something concealed that only you know is in that box. That way if the box does disappear you have a leg up in tracking it down.

 

I was lucky to find just wat I was looking for. A slab box to hold 100+ slabs with no slots, so any slab would fit. Cross posted

 

I am 100% a collector, not a dealer at all. I don't have a good feel for ANACS, CAC, or ICG slabs, but the ideal box would be able to hold all types of slabs.

PCGS boxes are intentionally designed to only fit PCGS holders. NGC boxes do well with older PCGS holders, but a couple of years ago PCGS redesigned their holder and now it doesn't fit in the NGC boxes. The Whitman boxes were supposed to be universal, but that really means they don't hold anything properly!

To be a really successful box, it needs to be able to hold all (regular) slab types. I wouldn't expect it to hold oversize.

For me, the ideal size would be 20 coins (same as the current standard). I could see doing a double-wide with 40, but beyond that the box gets too heavy. A dealer might want a much larger box (probably with handles and wheels), but I as a collector definitely don't need that.

 

Difference of opinion here, and I'll tell you why - first, I don't want to take the chance the the slabs are scratching each other by coming in contact as I slide them in and out.

Secondly, having them separated by tabs means I can easily take one or two out, without having to pull the entire row out, and I can easily see where it came from to replace it.

Thirdly, the coins all stay standing if I don't have a full row - if you've only got 10 coins in a 20 coin row, they're going to fall over and be messy.

Just my personal opinion, I'm glad that you are happy with your box.

 

Ok, I'll start. I have about 11 of those blue plastic boxes with a lid that hold 20 coins per. They have divider slots (which is both good and bad). It protects them but is a nightmare while expanding the collection in chronological order. Add too many and you end up having to move and rearrange half your collection to slots in new boxes. Having identifier tabs would be very nice, only the ANACS slabs are slanted where you can read the label from above. I hate their slab color but that is a very nice feature. I love the old soapbox holders but they are so small they disappear down the slot.
I use a magic marker to write the range of dates in each box, acetone is good for erasing that and revising what's in each box.

 

I put a small shipping label sticker on each box and basically label it "Box 1", "Box 2", etc. In my excel spreadsheet I have a column where I designated it's location. So, this coin will be "Capped Bust Halves, Box 2". I try to put them chronologically, so every year or two I re-organize my boxes... the newest coins that are chronologically first will move up to the first box. I can quickly update my spreadsheet with the new location. Don't ever need to change the label on the box.

 

Any box to store slabs needs to be compact but sturdy. The more slabs in a box, the heavier it gets to move it so I’d limit what it holds to no more than 30.

 

I haven't indexed them to my spreadsheet, but that's something I'll definitely consider. Thanks for the idea.

 

The more recent PCGS slabs, with the chip in them, are too thick to fit into NGC boxes. You have to put them in catty cornered. The NGC slabs are too tall for PCGS boxes. The lid will not close on them.

CACAC slabs don't fit in anyone's boxes. You can catty corner them in NGC boxes, but not as well as PCGS boxes.

I don't have other slab brands.

The other comment is that your plastic needs to be inert so that it was not damage the coins. One of our members learned to his chagrin that the inserts in PCI holders were not inert for long term storage. They damaged some valuable coins. He got the coins fixed and was able to sell them, but it was a lesson learned.

 

Just about every PCI slab I see, the coin looks gassed, psychedelic toning. I think they got that way before they got slabbed.

 

According to my friend, not necessarily. PCI had many owners, some good, some not so good.

 

I'm just throwing out anecdotal evidence, almost every coin I see on eBay in a PCI slab is highly suspect of artificial toning.

 

I second the ability to have a decent sealing lid. Perhaps a way to incorporate a large desiccant pack too. If you could integrate a sacrificial copper area, that'd be a bonus. Copper is good for adsorbing any odd gasses that would find their way in.

I'd like to see the TPG's 3D print their slabs AROUND the coins so there is no longer any type of seal. See if you can figure that one out. lololol

 

Would it be easy enough to make slide in adapters? I find that the “universal” slab containers do fairly well with most slabs except the ANACS soap bar holders. Those don’t stay well in any that I’ve tried.

 

It is because they are so small compared to modern holders. It would be nice to have an adapter for the small anacs holders, although I suspect not many people have enough of them for it to be a major concern.

 

Then you have to slide the slabs into plastic sleeves to prevent scratching the windows. I put PCGS and NGC boxes in my safe deposit box for my best, most expensive coins. The others lie in piles with plastic sleeves.