Hey Slab Crackers tell us how you lost your Virginity! Crackin slabs that is.

ambro51

So what was it like your very first time? Was it fun was it messy was it scary and did you want to do it again right away???

AnkurJ

I cracked my first slab when doing my Dansco 7070 set. Always with a hammer. Going back I would have used bolt cutters for PCGS slabs rather than a hammer. I always covered the slab with a towel and hammered away. It was messy with lots of small pieces of plastic, but it did the job.

WTCG

When I was 14.

Edited to add...

Oh, I misread the question the first time. First time I cracked out a coin was when I was about 19 and bought a few in those holders. I didn't like the holders so I broke them out. Once I learned what they were I resubmitted those coins and even scored one upgrade.

taxmad

Very scary, as it was the first slab I ever owned. NGC and used a very sharp Fiskars camp ax. Took an inch off the top and slid it out. My one and only PCGS slab I cracked was the lopper method.

MikeInFL

I was a bit apprehensive. After all it was both of our first time. At first she didn't yield her treasure to my fumbling hands. Then I stepped up the pressure. Eventually, she parted. The hammer helped.














Then I promptly put the coin in my 7070.

pakasmom

Tile snips. Still a little scary, but nothing like a hammer or a camp ax. You guys really live dangerously!

Frankiefanatic

Turning the bar on a 6" vise was so cool.

took little pressure to hear that "pop" of the slab cracking under pressure (the slab was hidden under cloth) no shards flyin about, no mess when pulling the coin from the holders in there minuscule rubber holders- just a coin IN HAND to admire.

If I did not like the grade assigned I had a choice- sned it back or end it to Wayte Raymond hell for an indefinite time period.


They are still in tone phase- segment 1A..

DRUNNER

I've always busted 'em like AnkurJ . . hammer and wrapped in a towel. Never a problem. Tap 'em lightly on the edge, peel and eat.

I have always enjoyed reading the threads that discuss this though . . . complete with multidirectional power tools, tinsnips, forceps, rubber gloves, Briggs & Stratton 4 HP motors, prayer, laser-guided clamps, vises/ViseGrips, lube, radial arm saws, and Uncle Ed's original Dremel tool with a turbocharger rigged to the widget arm.

The hammer just has worked easiest for me. I think I got that one at Walmart in Evanston, WY.

Drunner

ColonelJessup

It was probably in 1987 when I first used the tool I now refer to as "The Jaws of Life"

llafoe

<< <i>When I was 14.

Edited to add...

Oh, I misread the question the first time. First time I cracked out a coin was when I was about 19 and bought a few in those holders. I didn't like the holders so I broke them out. Once I learned what they were I resubmitted those coins and even scored one upgrade. >>



You're so cryptic... but I deciphered your answer. You were 14 in dog years, so you were 98 in human years? WOW! You beat me by 3 years!

llafoe

I remember when I busted my first cherry
























red Lincoln out of it's NGC slab. It never felt so good, it never felt so right!

lkeigwin

Over time you develop a technique. PCGS slabs are easy with bolt cutters. 5 seconds, never an issue. NGC and ANACS are better cracked with a hammer. Take your time. It's not hard or risky. Work your way around the slab.

I save the certs. Lately I've been saving the gasket/rings too. Gonna build something with them.
Lance.

Coinosaurus

I think the first one I cracked was SEGS. Used an electric jigsaw, went through it like butter!

NotSure

<< <i>I was a bit apprehensive. After all it was both of our first time. At first she didn't yield her treasure to my fumbling hands. Then I stepped up the pressure. Eventually, she parted. The hammer helped.


Sounds like something that would come out of a book with Fabio on the cover! LOL













Then I promptly put the coin in my 7070. >>

AnkurJ

<< <i>I think the first one I cracked was SEGS. Used an electric jigsaw, went through it like butter! >>



SEGS are tough! I did one with a hammer and screw driver. Took a good 15 minutes! Ive hammered out quite a few for my 7070, and for my large cent date set.

AMRC

I put my in a vise and cranked away until it went pop. Then I went on to a band saw, and now I am back to the vise. I hate the smell of melting plastic while using the band saw.

commoncents05

I bought a 2001 Proof Sac $ PCGS PR68DCAM at a discount due to the grade. There was nothing wrong with the coin at all, so I decided to crack it. I tired using a hacksaw, but realized that was not going to work. So, I used a pair of wire cutters and clipped the holder right across the coin. When I pushed, the bottom half of the slab flew across the room and I have NEVER been able to find it since. That was over 2 years ago.

-Paul

Frankcoins

Cracked some PCI slabs about 1998. A customer had sent in a bunch of 1920s commems -- ones known to have lots of die polish -- all came back AU58 cleaned and scratched. Later all got MS64 or MS65 at PCGS. Used my booted foot and a vise-grip.

I can't remember ever cracking a PCGS slab. They aren't perfect, but close enough that I sell uglies for bluesheet and possible upgrades for a small premium.

mumu

I was looking at a WLH half in one of the new ANACS gold holders. I thought to myself how cheap the slab looked and just to feel the firmness I twisted it one way with my right hand and the other way with my left hand, not very hard, just kinda like kicking the tires on a new car. It opened right up and the coin fell on the rug.

soty27

NGC old fatty slab at a fun show a very long time ago. I stuck the side of the slab under my chair and sat down quickly, ive used the chair method a few times since.

coinman23885

<< <i>I was looking at a WLH half in one of the new ANACS gold holders. I thought to myself how cheap the slab looked and just to feel the firmness I twisted it one way with my right hand and the other way with my left hand, not very hard, just kinda like kicking the tires on a new car. It opened right up and the coin fell on the rug. >>



Just be happy that you don't have hard wood floors; that would have been painful.

fiveNdime

<< <i>Turning the bar on a 6" vise was so cool. >>



so much pleasure from something so simple

an AU55 32d washington, to fill the final hole.

Raybob15239

I've only cracked a few coins out of third world slabs... all Morgans in Numistrust slabs... all were actually undergraded (and became VAM discovery pieces)!

QuarterCollector

My first time involved a hammer, a washcloth, and the concrete slab floor of my parents basement. Wait...... are we talking about coins?