I just scored an '08 Buffalo Proof PF69 with all of the original packaging and I would like to crack the slab and toss the coin back in its original packaging so it's presented as it came from the mint. (I am generally anti-slab, obviously, so please try to keep this thread from becoming a slab vs. no slab debate) I thought before I bust out the hammer and/or hacksaw, I would come here to see if anyone has a kinder, gentler method than my redneck engineering. So anyone out there with some experiencing liberating coins from their NGC prisons?
I think I remember someone using a band saw in another thread.... http://www.cointalk.com/forum/t8329/?highlight=bandsaw
I just opened four of them this weekend. It depends on the slab. NGC, PCI and old ANACS are easy. Just give them a some light blows with a hammer around the edges of the slab and the pop open. Make sure that they are on a hard surface and you have the slab standing on its edge. Never hit it with the slab being flat on the surface. PCGS and new ANACS are a bit tougher to crack that way. I've always been nurvous about the band saw creating too much heat. Any way you do it you risk some damage to the coin. You just want to take your time and minimize any risk to the coin. Go slow and be patient.
I would sell the slab and buy an unslabbed coin. Less risk that way. There is a good chance your PF69 will no longer be PF69 by the time you get it back into the original packaging no matter how careful you are.
I cringe every time I hear someone talk about using a saw/ band saw to open a slabbed coin. I work with machine tools of all types and sawing is a violent operation for plastic. My advise is to find a bench vise. The bigger the better. Put the holder between the jaws edge wise. Close the vise just enough to hold the slab tight. Carefully and ever so slowly close the vise until you heard a crack then stop. Open the vise and orient the slab one quarter turn and repeat. Close only until you hear a slight crack. Open vise and orient again one quarter turn and repeat. You will start to see the edge begin to seperate. This is when you must pay close attention not to allow the coin to drop to the floor. Make sure you have a hand on the slab as you release it from the vise. Slabbed coins are sealed by a process known a sonic welding. You must break this weld along the edge of the slab in order to free the top from the bottom. Patients is a vertue. I have freed many coins from PCGS and NGC holders using this method nad have had no problems. Just go slow and pay attention. Good Luck no matter what method you choose to use. Allen
Dremmel tool with a disc would probably work well also. There is a vid on u-tube of a guy putting a bunch of slabs in a pillowcase and whacking it on the cement outside. I don't think that would be the way you want to go though.
While this would technically be the easiest method, finding an unslabbed 2008 proof buffalo is becoming extremely difficult. Even more so at the price I found. The info provided to this point is all pretty good. I am thinking that Dremmel'ing the seem might be the best avenue. I also thought that chiseling out the face of the slab might also work. Damn slabs.
I use a vise!! Just put it into the vise and start tighting!! NGC will break very easy this way. I put a rag around the slab to protect from flying plastic and to make sure the coin doesn't fly out!!
I've found this works quite well. Once you can get the slab to neatly separate you can just lift it apart. No "shrapnel" to potentially damage the coin.
Here is some more info!! http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2919547&fpart=1
OK, so I wound up going with the Dremel and just using a cutting disc on the seams. Interestingly enough, the seams don't cut so much as they just melt. After a single pass around the entire slab on the seams, I was able to pop the seams apart with a flat head screwdriver -- there were a couple parts I didn't cut deep enough and they required some coaxing to pop apart. Now that I've done it, I think the vise method would be quicker but with this method there is zero risk of things popping under pressure, shrapnel or anything else even remotely dangerous to the coin. Sorry, I didn't get any pics of the process.
Tale a pair of pliers, break off a corner, then shuck it like an oyster Tale a pair of pliers, break off a corner, then shuck it like an oyster with a semi-dull broken knife blade, it pops right open. You must of course be careful and take your time but it's easy once learned. Some put it in a vise and it pops open, some lay it on a concrete floor and just tap around the edge and it will fall apart at some point - the main thing is to protect the coin at all times and that means going slow until you gain the skill - and it's such a good skill to have with all this plastic!
My approach will make some cringe. I use my favorite 16oz Plumb claw hammer. Lay the slab flat on the cast iron top of my table saw, and hit the raised outer edge of the slab all around the slab. It comes apart quite easily from there. Doesn't even wrinkle the label. Now, I have used that specific hammer for many, many years and have the eye hammer coordination thing down. This approach might not work for you, but it works every time for me. I like the sound a PCGS slab makes when the hammer hits
