A Crackout party!
ziggy29
Posts: 18,668 ✭✭✭
Today I grabbed my gloves and goggles, a hammer, a hacksaw and a few other tools as I finally got around to hosting my personal "crackout party."
I have a few coins -- Morgans, mostly -- in subpar slabs which I think are surprisingly conservatively graded for PCI and its ilk. As I want to submit a few other coins -- mostly a dozen or so better-date XF/AU Indians -- I figured I'd finally get around to playing numismatic freedom fighter and be the Great Liberator of these coins.
So while my wife was on the cordless phone talking to her dad and disrupting our wireless network, I decided to go out to the garage, grab the coins and 2x2 flips and get the party started. Yesterday, my wife convinced me to buy a 25 ounce bottle of "Delirium Tremens" ale, an expensive Belgian brew that cost $7.50 for the bottle. I figured that this would be my reward for A Job Well Done after liberating these coins.
Carefully, I used the hacksaw to take out a corner of the slabs. Then I hit the top part of them with the hammer, applying pressure to the area of the plastic around the coin, so at worst, it fractures in place. It was actually easier than I expected. Within 20 minutes or so, I freed five coins from their substandard dwellings, to find better homes elsewhere in the weeks and months ahead. Fortunately, I don't think I damaged any of them in the process.
And that Delirium Tremens is good stuff -- but at 8.5% alcohol by volume, it's almost like drinking a big bottle of wine. Make sure you don't have to drive for a while.
I have a few coins -- Morgans, mostly -- in subpar slabs which I think are surprisingly conservatively graded for PCI and its ilk. As I want to submit a few other coins -- mostly a dozen or so better-date XF/AU Indians -- I figured I'd finally get around to playing numismatic freedom fighter and be the Great Liberator of these coins.
So while my wife was on the cordless phone talking to her dad and disrupting our wireless network, I decided to go out to the garage, grab the coins and 2x2 flips and get the party started. Yesterday, my wife convinced me to buy a 25 ounce bottle of "Delirium Tremens" ale, an expensive Belgian brew that cost $7.50 for the bottle. I figured that this would be my reward for A Job Well Done after liberating these coins.
Carefully, I used the hacksaw to take out a corner of the slabs. Then I hit the top part of them with the hammer, applying pressure to the area of the plastic around the coin, so at worst, it fractures in place. It was actually easier than I expected. Within 20 minutes or so, I freed five coins from their substandard dwellings, to find better homes elsewhere in the weeks and months ahead. Fortunately, I don't think I damaged any of them in the process.
And that Delirium Tremens is good stuff -- but at 8.5% alcohol by volume, it's almost like drinking a big bottle of wine. Make sure you don't have to drive for a while.
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Comments
that 8.5 percent is more like a Meade than a beer.
you go !
<< <i>Zig is the Che Guevara of coins ! >>
Pfft. Che Guevara? Piker. Think Simon Bolivar here.
In 20 minutes I would have had 20 coins done. No hacksaw all Hammer and never
damaged a coin
.
<< <i>Booze, high grade Morgans, and a hammer- now there's a combination I'd stay away from! >>
No, the booze came *after* the deed was done. Actually, the hammer only started the top third of the slab, where the label is. The hacksaw was mostly for reinforcement and wasn't needed. It was easy with the lesser tools to finish the job.
put in, squeeze, turn, squeeze, slab seams come apart, slab opens up like a book.
takes a minute or so for anacs and ngc, but the pcgs, icg, and esp segs slabs are a little more difficult and may require some cutting. Still, imo lot's easier and less risky than taking a hammer to your slabs.
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
i have some slabs for cracken.
i wanted to mention i work on golf clubs as well.i have some rubber pads that are magnetic and stick to the vice jaws very nicely,might offer a little more protection !
golfsmith.com
Proof
apply pressure till you hear it crack,tap on it with your fingers and it will crack some more,rotate and repeat !
took maybe 2 minutes and barely damaged the holder !
Proof