What would happen if you microwaved a slab?

AlbumNerd

I came across this article on The E-Sylum about a warped slab.

https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/club_nbs_esylum_v27n33.html#article12

Someone guessed it was due to a microwave causing the coin inside to discharged sparks or something.

Any scientists amongst us know what would happen if we threw a slab in the microwave?

hummingbird_coins

It was more likely left near an open flame. I don't think anyone in their right mind would microwave a slab.

If anyone has slab plastic from a crackout, they could try it and see what happens.

P0CKETCHANGE

I once microwaved a plastic Lego Minifigure for several minutes. There was no effect, and it smiled at me mockingly.

Mr_Spud

Microwaves would probably make the coin arc a bunch of sparks. If you put an empty slab in a microwave it wouldn’t do anything unless you put it in water or at least wet it.

PeakRarities

Not sure…but I can let you know in October when I clean out my old office?

TwoSides2aCoin

It will cause environmental damage, one way or another.

CircCam

AT attempt of some kind gone wrong would be my guess.

Cougar1978

Oh cmon now let’s not be pessimists.

Arturo says It would thru the new quantum physics blow up into multiple slabs as original, insane super profit but unfortunately same sn. So they would need to be sold separately. Or better alternative crack out the dup other pieces you could send them in. Hey - Send to CAC?

PerryHall

I've seen pics of warped slabs from leaving a slab in a car with the windows up on a very hot sunny summer day.

Creg

@PeakRarities said:
Not sure…but I can let you know in October when I clean out my old office?

Microwaves did that, if you put it in a second microwave oven fast enough the coin melts.

Sapyx

This looks more like what I'd expect from damage from a conventional oven. The acrylic which slabs are made of does not absorb microwave radiation, so the plastic won't tend to get hot just by itself. The coin would be another matter, as it would get hot very quickly. It shouldn't zap and spark like what you see in those "metal in the microwave" videos because the coin doesn't have any sharp pointy bits and is also surrounded by electrically insulating plastic. Nor should the coin catch fire, since silver is much harder to ignite than aluminium or other metals you might see in "metal catches fire in the microwave" videos.

So, hypothetically, a microwaved slab would look mostly-normal around the rim (at points far away from the coin), and like a tiny terrorist bomb had gone off where the coin used to be. Which is kind-of the opposite of what we're seeing in the OP images, where the edges of the slab are deformed but the area around the coin itself seems fine.

Acrylic starts to soften at any temperature above boiling water, and spontaneously deforms like this once the temperature reaches around 180 deg C (360 deg F). Acrylic doesn't start to blacken and burn until around 450 deg C (840 deg F), which is too hot for a typical household oven. If you find a slab that's both curled-up and blackened, it was probably in a fire.

yosclimber

Looks like what happened to most of @crazyhounddog's slabs in his safe when the Paradise Fire burned down his house in 2018.
https://www.pcgs.com/news/the-day-I-lost-my-home-but-gained-a-community

FriendlyEagle7

I've actually tried this to see if I could fry the NFC tag. I set the microwave to only go for 2s and it did indeed kill the tag. It also left an obvious burn mark on the label, and filled the part with the coin with smoke, so I don't recommend trying this. If you want to kill the NFC tag try one of these instead: https://nfckill.com/products/nfc-kill?variant=17691329101881

I didn't see any sparks come off the coin, a washington quarter, or notice any damage, but its been a few years, maybe I'll check and see if its toned at all since then. You have to have a hard corner to make sparks - thats why a fork will spark but a spoon wont.

Morgan13

Definetly from a heat source such as an oven.

BStrauss3

Microwaves work because their frequency resonates with and excites the water molecules inside. Excite them enough and you make steam. Steam is hot and transfers energy to the food.

BAJJERFAN

@Mr_Spud said:
Microwaves would probably make the coin arc a bunch of sparks. If you put an empty slab in a microwave it wouldn’t do anything unless you put it in water or at least wet it.

It might soften, but most likely char if you kept it in long enough! Easy to try with an empty slab first and then put any old pocket change coin in it.

bsshog40

@hummingbird_coins said:
I don't think anyone in their right mind would microwave a slab.

You keep forgetting that we have TicTok generations now!

CRHer700

@bsshog40 said:

@hummingbird_coins said:
I don't think anyone in their right mind would microwave a slab.

You keep forgetting that we have TicTok generations now!

Ha-ha, very funny. I detest tictok.

CRHer700

@yosclimber said:
Looks like what happened to most of @crazyhounddog's slabs in his safe when the Paradise Fire burned down his house in 2018.
https://www.pcgs.com/news/the-day-I-lost-my-home-but-gained-a-community

I am interested in how the slab with a $20 in it completely melted, but the paper insert remained intact.

PerryHall

What would happen if you were to slab a microwave?

PhillyJoe

You can shrink a Kennedy half, without the slab, using electromagnetic energy and it's still worth 50 cents.

yosclimber

@CRHer700 said:

@yosclimber said:
Looks like what happened to most of @crazyhounddog's slabs in his safe when the Paradise Fire burned down his house in 2018.
https://www.pcgs.com/news/the-day-I-lost-my-home-but-gained-a-community

I am interested in how the slab with a $20 in it completely melted, but the paper insert remained intact.

Apparently the acrylic plastic in a PCGS slab melts at around 340 F, although it can warp at far less, perhaps 200 F.
Paper burns at 451 F, according to that old book/movie.

CRHer700

@yosclimber said:

@CRHer700 said:

@yosclimber said:
Looks like what happened to most of @crazyhounddog's slabs in his safe when the Paradise Fire burned down his house in 2018.
https://www.pcgs.com/news/the-day-I-lost-my-home-but-gained-a-community

I am interested in how the slab with a $20 in it completely melted, but the paper insert remained intact.

Apparently the acrylic plastic in a PCGS slab melts at around 340 F, although it can warp at far less, perhaps 200 F.
Paper burns at 451 F, according to that old book/movie.

I guess that I thought that there probably would have been flame on the paper. That is interesting though.

logger7

I tried to remove residue once by heating a coin to "burn it off", it doesn't work.

PerryHall

@logger7 said:
I tried to remove residue once by heating a coin to "burn it off", it doesn't work.

Next time, try acetone.

(((I'm kidding. Acetone will melt the plastic and ruin the slab.)))

johnny010

@TwoSides2aCoin said:
It will cause environmental damage, one way or another.

Nah just throw some sulfer in there and then reslab to sell for $5k over comps.