So first I love this slab probably my favorite of the all the slab designs so simple and clean looking. Do we know approx. how many were their were and how many are existing? And last who would break a coin out of one to place in an album, in my case a common date walking half in 63-64 grade. I have some fantastic peace dollars in these slabs that are common dates 64 grade that I'll keep but man you can find some pretty coins in them.
Just sell them and get new ones for the album if you really want album coins. There's plenty of slabs with no premium out there that would be better suited for a crackout but you could also easily make your own slab album. I dont like the old soapbox slabs, but some people will pay a premium for them. I dont like to shoot myself in the foot cracking something out that would be popular for an album devaluing what I have making it harder to sell.
How much of a premium have you seen on them. The one that I was looking at really didn't have a premium on it.
Depends which ones they are. The people that like them really like them though admittedly it's a smaller group, but they would if nothing else be faster and easier to sell in a see of common ones
ANACS soap bar slabs tend to have conservatively graded, attractive coins in them. Lots of great finds in that source. I have had some really nice Morgans in ANACS soap bars that I cracked out, and all but one upgraded.
Many of them were undegraded and therefore have been cracked out. IMO the soapbox slabs have a much more professional look than the happy meal toys ANACS has nowadays. I've found some really nice type coins in ANACS slabs before, as well as a surprising amount on Mexican coinage. They are neat.
I'm not sure how many there were or how many remain. I know a few people know these well but even then it would likely be hard to put a number. I'll tag @Burton Strauss III to pick his brain on this topic. The fact that there isn't much of a premium and they often sell for under PCGS/NGC, suggests that there are plenty still left in the market to satisfy demand. I like these holders and can attest to the fact that you can find solid coins at a fair price in them.
As far as cracking, I've done it with several. All the examples below were cracked for my type set album. The 1913 was the only non-details example; it was about the same price as a raw example and it would have cost me more to sell it then look for a raw, so I was fine cracking it out.
You need to differentiate fresh material from those that have been knocking about the market for years. If it was in Pop's collection since it was graded, there is a chance it's considered undergraded by today's "standards" such that they are. If it's been knocking around and a dozen people have had it in hand and NOT chosen to crack it out, you can assume its over graded even by today's loose standards. You also need to differentiate between the variations of the slab. XX#### the 2 letter/4 digit sequences go back to the earliest ANA ownership and then through the 1st years of Amos Press. ANA was strictly technical grading. Mostly undergraded by today's standard, but equally, some are correct and some are overgraded. The current "market" grading is not just an overlay. Amos definitely embraced market grading, but it was an evolutionary process. Their XX#### coins are still somewhat technical (Blue underprint is ANA, Green is Amos). ANA CD, EX, JK, KP, LO, LP, MJ, NJ, RD, TR, WD, WF, WR AMOS NJ, PG, PK, SC, SX, WE, ZD Still using the same slab, Amos then started with the strict numeric sequence. but the XX#### had already been mapped, with gaps. So the 0####, 7####, etc. come AFTER XX#### but before the start of the new sequences which are 28####. PrefixChas PrefixValue CD 10000 EX 20000 - EX is one of the two crossover (dual ANA/AMOS) JK 30000 KP 40000 LO 50000 LP 60000 MJ 80000 NJ 90000 PG 100000 PK 110000 RD 120000 RE 130000 - RE is the other dual use SC 140000 SX 160000 TR 170000 TS 180000 WD 190000 WE 200000 WF 230000 WR 240000 XA 260000 ZD 270000 Thus cert# 75 is not the 75th coin ANACS certified, it comes after several hundred thousand coins were certified in the XX#### holders. Saab86's preso shows this and more in glorious detail https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Y_6cj6X2v_ZbO4NrqlRLysVeJO1IgoqnAA51ErVhLf8
