Busted out 2 PCGS and 1 NGC MS-63,64 graded Franklin halves for my IS album. First time I've ever done this. After doing it, I realize that whoever can take apart one of these holders intact and replace the coin with a counterfeit or lower grade coin, must be EXTREMELY good, or just know the trick. I know I didn't use a lot of patience in this but.... As tough as those materials are, I don't know how you could do it. I tried pliers with a great deal of force. No go. Just smashed the edges down. Then I got out a hammer and had to hit the things about 20 times to crack them enough and they still didn't want to come apart. I even had a tough time getting the labels out to stick them in the album. Their holders are extremely tough and I was impressed. Now I think I'd rather buy BU coins in cardboard 2x2s in the future than go through the hassle of messing with these. It wasn't what I expected. They ended up in a thousand pieces.
Hi Vess1, That must have been a lot of fun! Wore safety glasses? I know how tough it is to break those silly plastic prisons to free the prisoner. My approach use to be about the same as yours, then I discovered the 1/4 inch wood chisel works a bit better. I just find a spot that is far as possible from the coin and give the edge close to the corner a good slam with my hammer, which usually cause a weak spot, then set the chisel in and begin tapping rather soundly until it starts to give way. After that it is a matter of tapping the chisel on the seam until you get the slab to open. Of course how ever one approaches this breaking in, it still comes with a lot of risk. jeankay
To let it be known, I'm not a fan of cracking everything out of slabs. I doubt I would ever crack out a high dollar coin. In this case though, sometimes it's easier to find a nice BU, MS half in a holder, than sort through so many raw, ungraded ones. I didn't feel bad about cracking these out for the album and I was interested to see what the holders were like inside. It might help me grade the raw ones a little better as well. I thought the holders would have a little more give. I found that they can have a lot of cracks in them and they still don't want to give or bend very easily. Good way to scratch a coin if you're not careful.
I did the same thing when I was nearing completion of my set of Franklins. I found common dates/mint marks readily available loose in higher grades, but the key dates were much more elusive in AU/BU condition. Since none of them are really expensive in lower BU grades I decided to buy slabbed coins and crack them out. I used a shop towel, a vise, a hacksaw, a small flat head screwdriver, and a pair of channel locks. The slabs were virtually ruined when I was finished with them, but I got the coins out without doing any damage.
Bolt cutters work the best if slowly used to cut and crack the slab. No offense intended, I just don't see the wisdom in cracking out a slabbed coin to put it in an album, where it can get damaged and has much less protection against the elements than if left in a slab, not to mention it is no longer authenticated and TPG graded. Granted Franklin halves aren't 1804 Proof Bust Dollars, but nice examples are more scarce than folks realize. I guess I never started with albums so I never got caught up in wanting to put my coins in them.
Collect89 suggests using a machinist's vice Slabs from different grading companies open quite differently. Some slabs you can simply twist in your hand and others require nuclear fission to open them. I understand that down in Sarasota Florida they use a standard machinist's vice to crack NGC slabs and sometimes PCGS slabs. They place the slab in the vice until it is held by two edges & then give the vice handle one extra UMMPH. This cracks the welded seal on one side & then they re-insert the slab to squeeze & break the other two sides. I know this works because I recently cracked three 1912-S MS63 nickels. The three nickels were slightly undergraded in my opinion. I just got them back today and the first tier grading company agreed with me on two of the three. (Yes I am happy with that). When you crack a coin out of a slab (especially a key coin) I believe you should mail the old label(s) to the original slab company. Otherwise population figures will get further & further out of control. The most popular method I've seen used to crack slabs at a show is the use of end-cutting pliers / bolt cutters. Personally, I sometimes carry a pair of vice grips. Protect your hands & eyes using any technique! Very best regards, collect89
The Intercept Shield albums are a long ways from your typical album. They are covered front and back by a slip and then in the album which goes into a cover. I realize the grade is void once removed but I stuck the labels inside the cover behind where the coins are anyway. That's all that matters to me. It does not erase the fact that they did come out of that holder. Not every one is or will be from a holder. Like I said, I'd rather find BU examples from old rolls in a cardboard 2x2, just because it's easier. These are off the market for a long time. Not looking to re-sell in my lifetime anyway. So I'm alright with it. There isn't much I would ever crack out of a holer.
Hey AJ, Just what kind of vice should I be looking for? Hmmm... something to do with money, or other the other kind of vices. (sorry AJ and Harryj... I could not resist that one) jeankay (boy, am I gonna get my bum kicked for this one!?)LM'Bum'O
WOW! Collect89... that is far out the nicest 'V' I have ever seen. For sure, I would never crack that out of a slab. Great coin. jeankay
Hey there Vess1, I wholeheartedly agree. The only reason I buy slabbed coins is if I cannot find a really nice raw one for my albums. Even at that, a few I have bought were so exquisite that I couldn't bear to remove them, so I had to get replacements. Yep, I know I am going in circles here, but I like chasing myself around trying to get my albums filled. The fun is in the hunt! Some time ago I won two NGC 1999S PF69 RD ultra Cameo Lincolns for 5$ each. Both the slabs were cracked, with one worse than the other. I broke out the lesser of the two for my album and saved the other. jeankay
Right On Vess !! Crack them babies out. I'm an album person too and I've been known to crack a few in my time..My AU/BU Merc Album has a bunch of crack-outs in it. My '26S MS60 is a NGC crack-out, My '17D MS63 FSB , an Anacs crack. I could go on...They're OUR coins, going in OUR albums, so we can crack em out if we want to. My local dealer(now retired) used to joke that he was gonna quit selling them to me if I kept bustin' them out of the slabs. I also had some Accugrade Mercs I busted out just cuz I was too embarrassed to show them to anyone. Most were entombed early in Accugrades life and the grades on them were amazingly good. So 2 birds with one stone. John
I like them. I think they look great and I like how they work. I prefer them and I don't foresee buying anything other than their 2x2 holders and occasionally tubes for storing stuff.
