To free or not to free?

I like this coin very much, it is very rare with less than 10 known, and it is one of the best, if not the best of the type. So, should I break the coffin?

 

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Noooo!!!

 

I’d bust that beauty out of it was me. Especially if your other coins are mostly un-slabbed. Ultimately, though it depends on whatever will give you the most enjoyment as the owner.

Also, I would love to see both sides. Great coin!

Here is a Lucius Verus from my collection.


...and here is one of several coins I removed from the slab so I could more easily store it and display it with my other Nerva-Antonine denarii.

 

Collecting coins in slabs is like permanently hoard one's jewels in a safe and only wear glass copies.

 

I see no use in those slabs but to add alot of plastic to your collection so happy hammering

 

Let's be honest. Having a coin in a slab adds to its resale value. The only reason to bust it out is so that you can experience the awe and wonder of holding such a marvelous relic of the past in your own bare hands. If the coin/slab were mine, I'd keep it entombed until the temptation of touching and admiring the actual coin became so great that I could no longer prevent myself from freeing it.

Which, in my case would probably take about 3 days.

 

There really is no good reason to leave that coin in a plastic container that cannot be opened.

Removing the coin from the slab does not destroy the label. With even halfway decent photos of the coin in the slab, after extraction it can still be verified as the same coin that was formerly slabbed.

As for the resale value of the coin being higher in the intact slab, my admittedly casual observation suggests that only holds true for NGC coins with "magic letters"* -- MS and maybe AU, and sadly without regard to the more important parameters that attempt to quantify eye appeal.

Cool coin . Set it free.

* "Magic" meaning the effect on sales price, a sad holdover from people accustomed to collecting modern coins who mistakenly think higher grade automatically equals more desirable.

 

Were that my coin, I'd have cracked it out of the slab immediately upon its arrival in the mail. It's not actually worth anything extra being in the slab, but taking up unnecessary storage space.

 

If I had a nickel for every time I agreed with TIF on questions asked here, I would have enough money to have my coins placed in little plastic boxes that would make them more appealing to people who chose not to learn about their coins beyond what appears on a tiny label. I do not recommend hammering to open but that is because I already own a very nice vise that will crack them out much more gently.

 

What he hell are you smoking? N O !

 

To summarize opinions so far, the people advocating leaving the coin in the slab are collectors of modern coins who probably don't realize slabbing ancient coins is a new phenomenon, something that is generally not necessary or desirable.

 

yes.
no.

 

The slab authenticates the coin.
It also indicates that it has not been tinkered with.

You decide how important that is.

 

Really?????

 

If you don't plan on selling it in the near future, and don't mind that when it is eventually sold it will most likely sell for less, then crack it out.

 

This is one of the few times I disagree with the comment by TIF. Slabbing coins is a new phenomenon for both modern & ancient coins. Slabbing coins is "something that is generally not necessary or desirable", that really depends on your point of view or personal reasons for slabbing coins. I've been a collector of ancient coins for over 50 years & have had many of my ancient coins slabbed for reasons I've posted in many threads on CT, so I see no reason to repeat them again. TIF did make a sensible comment I agree with, that you can always break the slab & keep the printed insert. In the case of Factor's coin, unless you have a neurotic impulse to feel the raw, coin keep it slabbed .

 

I would disagree. The holder allows you to see the coin in all its glory. Having your coins locked away in a bank safety deposit box deprives you of that joy. The slab also keeps the coins from being exposed to oxidation (silver/ copper) I have now 300+ coins in TPG slabs/ boxes. Plus, the LESS a coin is handled the BETTER. All/ coins where born in their mint setting as MS/ handling made them into VF/EF/F/VG Why, would I want to "touch" a MS-64 coin? to turn it into a 62?

 

Pretty sure we're discussing ancient coins in slabs, not moderns whose value and desirability are tightly linked to a 70 point grading scale.

That is factually incorrect.