Featured Well I Finally Tried It: the Crack Out

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Let's see, what would I do? I'd put the upper end of the slab in a vise, and hacksaw down, across the narrow dimension of the slab, about half an inch from the coin. No sudden force and no shattering, at least that's my theory.

 

you could have used the force to open the slab. no need for tools.

 

Good for you. Must feel good to free those coins from captivity.

 

Band-saw.

 

Don't forget to send the certs back to NGC so they can revise the census.

Chris

 

Mickey Mouse used to slice cheese with a band-saw...now he has to buy custom-made gloves. Hacksaw.

 

You're practically a pro now!

 

I will be attempting to crack open a slab from one of the top grading companies. Then resubmitting to the other top grading company to see if they receive the same grade. After reading your post I be using a band saw to crack her out. !!!!!

 

Band saw seems to be the general consensus

 

I ain't a-givin' up. Hacksaw, $11. Band saw, $125. Amazon averages.

 

I tried it once on a ICG slab. Hit it a couple times on each edge with a hammer, then hit each edge again with a rubber mallet and it came apart easily.

 

Take wire cutters and place them on the corner of the slab. Place a rag over the whole thing and break each corner until it just opens up. Just remember the rag unless you have shop goggles.

 

^ On another safety note, if anybody does go the saw route make sure to wear a safety mask. You don't want to inhale that plastic dust.

 

Or the silver dust.

 

clamp the slab on its side and take an axe to it. or better yet a chainsaw!

 

A great little tale of coin surgery! I too have great trepidations about "cracking out" coins. It seems so violent and permanent. I have mixed emotions about the value of TPGs but once I have a neat little slab I like the way it looks and feels.

Nice write up Mr. Geek!

 

Wrap the slab in a towel. Put it in a vise. Slowly crank down until you hear a crack. Remove from towel. Remove coin with gloved hands. Plenty of YouTube videos on how to free a coin from it's mausoleum.

 

Easy:

Just put the slab sideways into a vise.

Tighten until it cracks, remove, twist and done

 

I'm not anti-TPG at all. I appreciate professional authentication when it comes to higher-end coins. But those quarters are nothing special, no offense intended. Probably someone submitted them hoping for 65 or 66. An album is just where they belong, and the Intercept Shield albums are very handsome.

It's interesting that we've come to the point where collectors feel trepidation at cracking out coins. Prior to the 80's, coins had been collected raw for thousands of years.