Slab or Dansco
Gothat3rs
Posts: 238 ✭✭✭
Whats everyone's thought on cracking slabs and putting into dansco. I'm putting together a very high grade buffalo collection and I really want to put them in a album. I know financial ill take a hit, I would keep the grading tags and yes I kniw they won't actually be valid anymore once the slab is cracked but id still keep them for reference
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Sounds like collecting is most important to you. Go for it and please post pictures if you are able to along your journey!
My view: I like to enjoy a reasonable collection in an album. BUT, when you start talking about serious coins or grades where +/- 1 point can have a significant $ impact, it's the slabs.
You need to calculate what that hit looks like if you breakout for the album. Buyers likely wont be as confident in a raw coin and probably offer -1/2 points money on resale down the road. Is that significant?
I cracked out many coins for my PL collection. I have no regrets. Just be sure that in the long term you won't regret it.
Really take the time to think it through.
Student of numismatics and collector of Morgan dollars
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I stopped making album sets because I prefer not cracking out slabs. I completed a Lincoln album and for the better coins you almost have to find slabbed coins and crack them out. I did that and I like my complete album. But if I was to reslab them, can I get my cracked coins back into a slab at the same grade? There are a lot of variables. For me, the enjoyment of finishing my album was worth the risk of the few slabs I cracked. If I was to start again making a high grade set, I would not crack them out, I would just have a nice set in slabs.
I'm a slab-cracker for my Barber half set, but mine are low-to-mid grade coins -- I have a fixed high price point across the set. I'd never do this with high-grade coins.
Depends on what you consider high grade, another consideration is can you (with a high degree of success) spot the problem and low for the grade coins in PCGS holders. If high grade is MS63/64 then your financial hit will be somewhat mitigated, and if you can easily call out the problem coins that exist in PCGS holders that too will mitigate the risk/hit. One way to do that is to only buy CAC approved/graded coins as you have that extra level of safety knowing that CAC has also reviewed the coins for problems. The downside is you will likely have to pay more for many of those CAC coins.
But if you are buying MS65 or better quality and/or are not confident you can cull out the problem and low for the grade coins then you would be financially smarter to leave them in the TPG holder. Coins look great in albums so if that is what you want then do it; but be very sure before you crack. Personally, in todays market I would put together a nice AU58 set in an album vs a high grade MS set.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
I can appreciate your apprehension when it comes to whether or not to crack out a coin from a slab for the Dansco. I've been faced with the decision quite a few times over the years. For me I don't really mind having a couple open slots that I have a PCGS certified coin as an example and haven't considered cracking them, ie: '09 S VDB cent in XF45, or 1877 IHC in VG10, The 3 key Barber quarters in G-VG. When they're at that price point or so, I keep them in the slab.
Your collection and your decision making is totally up to you.
Remember the cost involved of getting back into slab. What grade levels do you have? What percentage are slabbed? I have seen some Danscos with labels taped inside of the crackouts. If mostly uncirculated I would consider a Capital Plastics holder.
Crack em, enjoy em
I don’t have the guts to crack expensive coins (4 figures and up) but I enjoyed my coins more in capital plastic back in the day. I wouldn’t compound the cost by exposing my MS and PF coins to the vagaries of an album however. Plastic holders are safer and classier IMO and look great in black. Consider the care needed to crack coins out without damage as well.
I currently collect only slabs to store my US coins, but as a compromise I display them in lighthouse trays of 8, housed in a Lighthouse wooden box. The only real downside is that it isn’t practical to use a SDB, so I’ve had to invest in high-end safes. So, both financial and safety concerns come into play vs. the more tactile (and pleasurable) experience handling raw coins.
One might also consider a nice XF/AU set if going the album route. Buffalos look great in AU IMO, especially with nice matched toning.
In the end, its up to you. I watch a few popular YouTube coin channels, and I did hear about an album with slots for slabs. The sell them on Amazon: LIGHTHOUSE ENCAP pages which seem to me to be expensive as clear vinyl pages go. But they make sense except for the sheer size and weight. And you need some big honking 3 ring binders. I personally think the Dansco albums are very handsome and look good on a book shelf
Personally, I also would be taking my coins to be graded OUT of the DANSCO, sending them IN to PCGS and replacing them with second bests. The top of the totem pole (in my collection) are the Capital Proof Sets, Dansco albums and US Mint Sets. The best of the best ones will be graded by PCGS, NGC, or ANACS (in order top to bottom-PCGS for the true rarity etc.)
I would replace the DANSCO coin holes with coins from my 2x2 carboard holders, which are in 3 ring binders. further down the totem pole of collector storage devices are the old Whitman, Littleton books. Those were the carboard books that got me hooked as a 10 year old paper boy. Beyond that we are getting into the coin tubes and boxes of loose coins sorted by denomination, mint, decade or series etc.
Coin dealers are shrewd enough to quote prices and buy entire Dansco Albums, but they will cherry pick the individual coins out of them and sell them, replace them with lower grades etc. A complete Dansco set should cost at least $35 above the cost of the raw coins, because theres' a market for the used coin book.
Everyone does it different.
Slabs are for high end business strikes and proofs pre-World War II. I hesitate cracking any coin out of a slab because of the costs of submitting for grading. Circulated coins under Choice AU can be put into albums.
Custom album maker and numismatic photographer.
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This is why you only crack the (slight) undegraded slab. For example, crack an MS64 1925-S Peace dollar yet never the MS65.
Would like to hear from a collector who has cracked an expensive coin and recently tried to sell it raw. I remember the bad old days pre-slab. Thankfully I had good dealer friends to help me whenever I turned over any of my collection. Even back then there were lots of counterfeits floating around to deter offers, not to mention cleaned and doctored coins.
Personally I like slabs over albums
more protected and depending on the slab, I find the coin to be “highlighted” by the holder.
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I have personally sold lots of raw coins for for redbood prices. Now most all of them were local where the buyer could view in person and we agreed on grade
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Me too, but within a small circle, like my local club, friends, etc. but when it came time to sell some high-end material I really needed help from my dealer friends. We drove to the ANA in St. Louis and my buddies walked the bourse with me. Thanks to
them I sold $40k worth of coins at very good prices.
I actually kniw a couple serious local dealers that have been in the coin business fir along time. They all have very high end personal collections in dansco albums. They have no problem cracking out coins that are in the 5k and up higher range. They have told me they keep the original grading tag and dint have a problem re selling raw
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I would leave the high end set in slabs. You could have a secondary set in an album in an attractive state of preservation that is less dependent on the slab.
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While I do not prefer Dansco albums, I have cracked out numerous coins for inclusion in my various album collections.
Official PCGS account of:
www.TallahasseeCoinClub.com
I prefer the safety and security of my coins ensconced in their slabs. If you plan on selling your collection, you wont regret keeping them slabbed. It will be harder to sell a raw coin in questionable condition.
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I've cracked out at least a dozen Buffalos for my XF-BU set and more of various grades for my 7070, IHC and early silver proof Washington quarter sets which are in albums or Capital holders. If I've managed to complete a set, I just prefer to view the coins together. Will I lose money in the future? Only time will tell.