Yes, another slab question, so many questions so here goes: What are the thoughts on cracking a slab to place the coin in an established folder (a pretty fancy one at that) rather than just keeping the slab? I make inserts where a coin should be indicating the info off the label, but it just doesn't look as good. Crack it or not? (the coin is not especially valuable, 1836 large cent, XF-40BN)
Totally up to you but I crack them all out and place in my albums; I only buy slabbed coins (pretty much everything over $300) to ensure they are genuine.
Entirely up to you of course and your sense of aesthetics versus any economic issues. If you crack it out, does the coin have enough economic value, now or in the future, that you would need to re-slab it in order to sell it for a price you would deem acceptable or to avoid the hassle of selling a raw coin? Greysheet lists the 1836 Large Cent in XF-40 at $125. Seems to me that if you crack it out, it probably wouldn't be worth it to have it re-slabbed.
Coins have to be worth a lot of money these days to be worth the grading fee from an economic point of view. Some people don't care about that and just want it in a slab. Cracking out coins is not a good economic strategy unless you are an expert grader who thinks the coin will upgrade enough to make money on a re-submission. Cracking out coins to put them in an album is a "consumption act." You are throwing away money in most cases, but if it makes you happy, do it. Just bear in mind that you have lost the certification. When you go to sell, you will probably get less money than if you left it in the slab. Here was my strategy when I was buying raw coins as a dealer. I graded the piece and assigned a value. From that I had to deduct the cost of getting the piece slabbed, which included the grading fee and the shipping. I also gave myself a little room in case the grading company didn't give me the grade I thought it should get. Bottom line - the seller got less money than he or she would have gotten if the piece had been graded.
To your points; I chanced into collecting (more like accumulating) via my mum-in-law and hadn't realized there were any economic benefits to the hobby. Over the years, though, that's been harder and harder not to factor in any purchase. But I still enjoy it just for the.............I'm not sure what, but it's a helluva lot of fun. I've whittled my collection down to just Buffalo nickels, Morgan's and a few very nice specimens of miscellaneous stuff. I guess I'd rather look and handle (very carefully) the coin than a slo...........er, slab. But thanks for your input, I especially like; "if it makes you happy, do it".
The main things slabs do are to give a big boost to determining a value. They also provide a large measure toward authentication. Counterfiets have become a problem because of the Chinese counterfeiters. Those guys have sadly gone after Morgan Dollars, including the common dates in circulated condition more than anything else, but they fake anything. Those counterfeits look like toned coins, but they don't contain any silver. Finally slabs provide physical, and not always chemical protection. If you drop a slab, you probably won't dent the coin. Slabbed coins can tone in the holder, usually from something that was on the coin when it was graded. Sometimes the holder in the slab is not inert which can cause damage. That is not an issue with the leading slabbers.
The value or grade isn't so high that cracking it would be a mistake. What I recommend whenever someone wants to crack a coin for an album is to take a picture of the coin in the slab, print it, put it in a baseball card sleeve, and store it with the album. While a photo of the slab doesn't carry any official weight with respect to the coin once cracked, it is a good reference for later when it may be time to sell the coin. It's also better than taping slab tags into an album.
It’s your collection so it’s entirely up to you. Me, I would leave as it. It increases the value and it’s low enough in price that to have it reslabbled would be to costly. Just buy another coin to put in the folder. If you do break it out, save the slab label.
I'm in the camp of crack it if you will enjoy it more raw (in an album), especially when the cost is relatively low or the difference between slabbed and raw is not significant (say $50 or so apart). One more thing to consider is if the slab is rare or not. Some lower dollar coins can be worth a lot if it is in a scarce slab. Post a photo of the slab and people should be able to help explain if the slab carries a premium.
