Breaking coins out of a slab
SoggyWaffles812
Posts: 3 ✭
Hello everyone bit if a luker here and have a question.
Whats everyone's opinion on breaking coins out of a slab to put in an album? Ive seen people take the label and stick it inside the cover, I usually try to buy raw for my books but as I upgrade (wheats) im finding that the coins I want are in slabs. Obviously this will take away any value that comes with it being graded right? Im a bit torn on what I want to do. Hoping the answers here will help me make a decision. Its the earlier wheats im struggling to find raw ad everyone gets the nice ones graded.
Thanks in advance! Buy the dip!
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Howdy and welcome.
If you crack a coin out of its holder and place it in the album I don't care if you keep the cert or throw it away or tape it inside the cover of the album...the coin is raw and in my opinion has never been certified and I would ignore the paper cert and give you no additional value or liquidity for its prior certification. Some folks might give some leeway, but not me and not most folks, I would imagine.
So, if you need or want to, crack away at your leisure but be aware that when it is time to sell (and every coin is eventually sold) that the coin will be raw.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
Yeah, thats pretty much where my heads at with it. Right now for any slabbed coins I incert a wheat backwards in my book, but man do I hate that when im flipping through it.
I never crack coins out of their slabs because you are throwing away the grading fees and the associated costs especially the cost of two-way insured shipping. The slab also has value for the authenticity guarantee especially for those coins that are heavily counterfeited such as key-dates like 1909-S VDB cents or1916-D dimes, US gold coins, Trade Dollars, etc. Also, without third party grading, you have a raw coin that may have problems such as tooling, repairs, artificial toning, cleaning, etc. Once a coin is cracked out, the label is worthless since it's impossible to prove the coin goes with that label. Before slabs back in the early 1980s, a coin dealer tried to sell me a counterfeit gold dollar that was accompanied with an ANACS photo certificate. When I pointed out to him that his coin was different than the coin pictured on the certificate, he shrugged his shoulders and put his coin and certificate back in his display case.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
It is your property to do with as you wish. Personally, i don't go out of my way to lower the value of things I own. It is up to you how much aesthetics is worth. James
You received wise advice. Just wanted to welcome you to the forum!
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I've cracked many slabs, PCGS, NGC, ANACs, & ICG for albums. Agree, coin now considered raw, but I kept the slab labels for reference and it has helped me when selling coins. My LCS buyer reviewed the album coins for pricing (there were about 60 coins in album being sold) and added that the labels added some comfort that the grades I noted were reasonable. Now sold as raw, and not going to get slabbed coin prices, but if you go down the road of breaking slabs, I'd recommend keeping the labels.
Are you part of the Goob crew?
I’ve cracked a few. It’s not my preference. I pay to have them graded.
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Saving the labels only help you if you are selling your coins to someone who knows you well and trusts you. If you are selling them to a random coin dealer at a coin show or if you put them in an auction, the labels won't help.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I don't buy slabbed coins for resale; I buy them to insure what I'm buying is genuine and not a counterfeit or cleaned coin especially when it comes to key dates. I'm primarily an album collector so I crack them out and put them in their rightful spot in the album. I do keep the inserts and put them in a clear 2x2 page at the back of my Dansco's.
Cracking coins out of a slab to put them into an album is "a consumption act" as one of my economics professors would say. The coin loses value. I have only done that three times when I put together this "short set" of Walking Liberty Half Dollars for my own enjoyment. I threw away maybe $125. I found the rest of the coins running around the bourse at a Summer FUN show.
Crack the coins out if it makes you happy, but bear in mind that you will get less for the coins when they are raw.
Agree, had several dealings with the LCS, both buying and selling over the past 20 years.
Not for me. Breaking the coin out of the slab essentially voids the grading certificate and demotes the coin to raw status.
I junked albums decades ago. The CAC slab storage boxes work great for my slab coins. What little raw I have are for show junk boxes.
Slabs improve selling marketability greatly, no question about that.
But if able to view a coin in hand, would you rather a raw high end coin with good eye appeal (A coin) or a slabbed coin (B/C coin) if at the same price. For my collection, feel collectors/dealers who are confident with their grading won't shy away from purchasing or greatly discounting the coins. I'm in the shallow end of the numismatic pool. My thoughts would be different if I was dealing with 4-6 figures coins. Now if buyers are just looking for a quick flip, agree they won't buy raw.
Personally, I've cracked several over the years to fill my Danscos. No top pops or even close to it. A small price to pay for the enjoyment of viewing my albums. Not concerned about resale. That's something my heirs can worry about after I'm dust in the wind.
On a frequent basis, I free coins from their plastic tombs and add them to a different tomb - my albums.
Official PCGS account of:
www.TallahasseeCoinClub.com
I cracked these out for my 7070
INYNWHWeTrust-TexasNationals,ajaan,blu62vette
coinJP, Outhaul ,illini420,MICHAELDIXON, Fade to Black,epcjimi1,19Lyds,SNMAN,JerseyJoe, bigjpst, DMWJR , lordmarcovan, Weiss,Mfriday4962,UtahCoin,Downtown1974,pitboss,RichieURich,Bullsitter,JDsCoins,toyz4geo,jshaulis, mustanggt, SNMAN, MWallace, ms71, lordmarcovan
I stopped even bothering to keep inserts years ago. These are in a box on the shelf behind my desk and you can see that many are from slabs of 20 or up to 30 years ago. I kid you not - there's an old doily insert or two buried in there somewhere!
Official PCGS account of:
www.TallahasseeCoinClub.com
I am not sure if it is still the case, but at one time, PCGS was paying a $0.50 credit per returned label.
Reference: https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/comment/13893562/#Comment_13893562
If you are filling an album, you are buying coins. When it comes to the tougher coins, they can be hard to locate unslabbed. Then there is question about condition and authenticity, especially for something like the 09SVDB. You might get a better deal if you can find one unslabbed, but why is it unslabbed? Or you just pay the price for the coin you want... and crack it out if needed. You get the piece of mind that you have an authentic coin. Sometimes, you can find a slabbed coin for about the price non-slabbed coins are selling for. You may loose some liquidity value with cracking, but the coin is still the coin.
That said, I did crack slabs to finish my AU/MS/PR Dansco Lincoln set. I did not start a 7070 Album because I did not want to crack that many slabs. My building of sets in albums has stopped because overall I don't think cracking slabs is the wisest way to go. If I had access to coin shops and coin shows with great access to in-hand raw purchases, it might be a different perspective. In the end, do what you can afford and what makes you happy.
I kid you not - there's an old doily insert in there somewhere.> @MetroD said:
They can keep their fifty cents
.
Official PCGS account of:
www.TallahasseeCoinClub.com
Crack out = decertify. Your choice based on your priority.
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