Do you think that dropping an old NGC slab from a bookshelf onto a carpeted floor (about 5 feet) could damage or crack the slab?
It shouldn't break the plastic. If it was poorly sealed or messed with, there's a chance split in half (but not likely).
Anything is possible. Depends on how thick and soft the carpet is, what angle the slab hit, and how the slab had been stored over its life (that is, if the plastic had gotten brittle). In my office, the carpet is pretty soft and I know that I have dropped slabs before without breaking.
Generally, your slabs should be fine. Mine have survived falling from about that height onto wooden floors. Scratched up the wood.
Ahh, just crack them out. Who needs slabs anyway? Just do a Vulcan mind meld with the right person and you'll instantly possess enough knowledge to assign your own value every single time!
Maybe a 5% chance of getting a crack if you drop it like that onto a concrete floor. Carpet? Not a chance.
Plush, berber or commercial carpet? Padded or glued down installation? If padded, thickness and weight of the pad? If glued down floor composition underneath, wood or concrete? Lots of variables. But in general it isn't likely.
Landing on a carpeted floor? That's like treating it extra careful. Nothing could be worse from the way dealers treat freshly slabbed coins. Seems to me many of them go out of their way to scratch up the "scratch resistant" holders by dragging the slabs back and forth vigorously on rough surfaces, chewing them, and whacking them with a mallet. When I complain about this, I hear things like "buy the coin, not the slab". Too bad I can't see the coin through all the scratches!! You're fine.
