Success!!!

NoGvmnt

Okay, my first attempt at a crackout. An 1875-S 20-cent very old ANACS slab (MS 61).

I didn't have a vise and my coin dealer buddy said to use a hammer. So, I began hammering on the edge and the darn thing wouldn't crack. Swinging the hammer progressively harder the edge began breaking away until I had both sides and the bottom completely severed from the slab, I then snapped the top off and slid the insert out through the bottom.

Because this is one of my most beautifully toned and longest owned prized coins, this exercise was nerve recking to say the least.

It is now ready for "Quarterly Freeby Submittal"

Jim

GaCoinGuy

Yeah, it can be a bit un-nerving when you start whacking an old coin with a hammer. Good luck on the grading.

paigowjohnny

Couldn't just leave it where it was, huh ??

nwcs

Next time use a dremel and cut away the outside edges.

NoGvmnt

Haahaaaaaaaaa, all 5 crackouts completed. The hammer method is soooooooo simmmmmmple!

Paigow, "couldn't just leave it where it was"? Wait till you see the results of what I'm submitting.

Neil, with a dremel you have all those little plastic floaties, with the hammer the edge breaks away very cleanly.

Jim

ms70

Last time I did one I put it in a vice (just tight enough to hold it). Just enough of the side I was working on was exposed above the
jaws. I sawed the perimeter with a hacksaw, turning the slab each time I moved to new side so the side I was working on was up. It
went very smoothly.

nankraut

HEY! Some enterprising person could write a book on various ways to crack out a slab. It could be a profitable best-seller.

roadrunner

hammer technique takes about 30 seconds overall. But wear some goggles to keep those plastic pieces of shrapnel out of your eyes.

roadrunner

NoGvmnt

"But wear some goggles to keep those plastic pieces of shrapnel out of your eyes."


Oooooops.

Anybody ever try ceramic tile nibblers?
Jim

Kriek

Klaatu barada nikto!

Russ

<< <i>The hammer method is soooooooo simmmmmmple! >>



Yes, and effective. I've busted a lot of slabs from nearly every company with just that simple tool and a flathead screwdriver. Some slabs are a lot tougher than ANACS, though. Try a SEGS some time.

Russ, NCNE

dlimb2

Good going Jim. I cracked my first ones last Sunday...that was somehting I had always feared...now it is no problem....

MadMarty

Do like Russ does, stick the coin between your butt cheeks and squeeze!!!

certifiedsilverdollar

Like the dremel idea, so much less violent.......lmao

Bubblehead

I have used several methods. The newer NGC slabs are a bear.
The easiest to crack, I've just learned, are the older PCI slabs.
Piece of cake.
HD tin-snips work well on all of them, except the new NGC guys.
Just cut into the middle (long side) about 1/4" in, and they will split in half. Work the halves apart, pop out the coin from the insert onto a flip, and voila! (spell that rite?)
A vise works well, too. Just gotta be careful.
I did read here, some time back, that the older PCI slabs, with a gold border, and a 9 digit cert# are the good ones, right?
The MS64 Walker that I just cracked out, is certainly at the high end of MS64!