Congrats! It looks great. All of mine have been relatively easy, with little to no problems. I have tapped them open by hammering at the sonic-weld seams, OR I have used a vice on seams that popped them open. Everyone freaks out about covering with a towel, but using steady careful vice pressure or hammer tapping breaks open the sonic welds. However, to feel safe, wear glasses and use a towel if you are more comfortable! Oh, and I wear a mask now! Here are a couple I freed years ago... RI Augustus AR Denarius struck 2 BC-14 AD Caius and Lucius Caesars stdg shield spear S 1578 NGC4276216-007 Etruria Populonia 3rd C BCE AR 20 As 8.1g Metus Blank NGC Cert HN 152 Obv
I have around 300 now in PGGS/ NGC/ ANACS slabs....I leave mine alone/ the slabs protect coins from the elements and fingers.
Some coins rate slabs.. gold and Mint State coins... but I much prefer my circulated coins in the raw. I do make exceptions for exceptional coins however (ie, my 1885 Nova contilltio will be sent for grading and "typing" (C-5e) shortly after it arrives) even with that will only be the 3rd coin i've condemed to a plastic grave... But only after i've had a chance to handle it myself lol...
I would leave modern coins in slabs. One of the charms of collecting ancient coins is their irregularity. Slabs tend to hide and obscure that aspect of them. Also, none of my other ancients are slabbed, and raw and slabbed ancients don't play well together in terms of storage, display, and if I just want to look at them side-by-side. If I had that EID MAR that recently broke auction records I'd probably leave it slabbed. But I think whoever purchased that did so as an investment, and they'd lose money if they took it out of the slab. I know that if I dropped that kind of money on a slabbed ancient it would bring me little joy. It would be about the money. The coin I just posted might lose some resale value because it's no longer slabbed, but I don't care.
Hi Doug, thanks you are correct of course. I'll post photos of both sides maybe tonight or tomorrow with description.
Here's the crack-out coin. Septimius Severus. AR denarius, Emesa, 194–5 CE; 19mm, 3.40g, 11h. BMCRE W380–2, 384–6, RIC 411a, RSC 330. Obv: IMP CAE L • SEP SE•V PERT AVG COS II; head laureate r. Rev: M–ONET – A–VG; Moneta standing facing, head l., with scales in r. hand, cornucopia in l.