What's the best way to crack a slab?

ealandg · January 24, 2004 5:44AM

Hey, I want to try to cross a few coins, but am suspicious about people being biased by the current slab. What is the safest way to get 'em out?

pow012000 · January 24, 2004 5:46AM

Hammer to break the top of it and then use a screwdriver....... yea yea hammer!!!

LucyBop · January 24, 2004 5:47AM

I simply beat them with a hammer while wearing eye protection, I hold them on the sides and hammer away, usuallt they split enough to where you can then open them with your hands. Wear eye protection so nothing flys into your eye...

ealandg · January 24, 2004 5:48AM

Sounds kinda fun!

ksteelheader · January 24, 2004 5:50AM

.

atomic · January 24, 2004 5:51AM

Cut the top off with bolt cutters, then pry the base open with a screw driver. Caaaaarefully.
-Atomic

foodude · January 24, 2004 5:52AM

Cutting pliers; it is really quick and easier to control both the pieces and the coin- you don't want the coin to get away from you and get damagaed.

fcloud · January 24, 2004 5:55AM

I simply cut the perimeter of the slab with my miter box saw, and remove the top

ElectricEye · January 24, 2004 5:57AM

LUCKOFTHEIRISH · January 24, 2004 5:57AM

Use Vise Grips all the around the sealed section. Tighten them enough untill you hear the plastic crack. Then just pry apart. Use your glasses to protect your eyes like Lucy said.

poptopsRus · January 24, 2004 5:58AM

I use wire cutters (with the exception of SEGS slabs - they take a damn jigsaw). Two cuts with the wire cutters and that's all there is to it. I never go to a show without it.

Russ · January 24, 2004 6:05AM

Hammer. Quickest, simplest, easiest and it's what the professional crackout artists use. While all you guys who use saws and vices and snips and wire cutters are still working on your first slab, I'll have five cracked out.

Russ, NCNE

Barry · January 24, 2004 6:17AM

I use a vise. It's pretty quick for me. A bonus is many slabs crack along the seam so you can reuse them

Baley · January 24, 2004 6:24AM

The time I take and the sophisication of the tools I use is directly proportional to the value of the coin inside. Cheap coin in cheap slab, wrap in a clean towel, take hammer and coin to concrete surface, tap tap, done in seconds. Expensive coin, man I go slooow, cut a little, pry a little, cut a little more, pry a little more, gently, gently.....

MrEureka · January 24, 2004 6:25AM

Well, if it's a Frankie, I'd say grab a six pack, head down to the railroad tracks, lay the slab down on the rail, relax and watch the magic unfold!

MSD61 · January 24, 2004 6:36AM

I think I like the M-1 idea....LOL!

Lucy makes sure all us cats don't get hurt Whadda gal!!!

BigE · January 24, 2004 7:13AM

Lets have a crackout contest right next to the grading contest, with 40 PCGS slabs. BYOT (bring your own tools)

---------------------------------------------BigE

Dollars · January 24, 2004 7:33AM

I dont think that the "crack out contest" would fly in CA if you opened up with the M-1. LOL

At what distance do you place the slab when using that method?

Do you use a bench vise for the M-1?

I am quite sure it is a clean break anyhow.

mozeppa · January 24, 2004 7:47AM

when opening ACG slabs ...use a marble sized ball of c-4 plastic ...and at least 100 feet of detonation cable!

Dog97 · January 24, 2004 7:51AM

Heehe really I just lay then on edge on a concrete floor & lightly beat them along the seam with my 28oz waffleface Estwing hammer.

Manorcourtman · January 24, 2004 8:15AM

I use a hammer and a roofing nail. Place nail on top center of the slab and whack away. Once top is cracked repeat on the bottom of slab. Be careful of course!!!

foodude · January 24, 2004 10:16AM

Well, if it's a Frankie, I'd say grab a six pack, head down to the railroad tracks, lay the slab down on the rail, relax and watch the magic unfold!

Andy, you're funny

MrEureka · January 24, 2004 10:46AM

Andy, you're funny

Funny??? I thought I was obnoxious.

razorface1027 · January 24, 2004 11:49AM

NGC & ANACS slabs I use a rock hammer & a flathead screwdriver. Stand the slab up, left hand screwdriver & right hand hammer. Tap gently at top center, continue cracking with the screwdriver around the sides until white plastic insert is free...PCGS slabs, I use wire snips..start on the right side of slab just below the tag insert, snip in vertical position and 90% of the time if snipped correctly, the slab will make a clean crack straight across. Take the flathead screwdriver, insert it in the opened crevace, turn clockwise and crack away. You might, on some occasions, need to use the wire snips toward the bottom. This is how I've found it doesn't damage the coin. I finally had to take the advice from forum members instead of doing it my way. My way was 4 foot, heavy duty chain link cutters which annihilated the slab...

Gandyjai · January 24, 2004 2:40PM

I used to use a hammer and rag method......then discovered the beauty of tile nippers.

A very good friend told me about them. I'll never go back to the hammer!
Good Luck!

Gandyjai

LAWMAN · January 24, 2004 2:51PM

Drive back and forth over it slowly, with a Chevy Tahoe with snow tires.

khalleyplayer · January 24, 2004 3:54PM

Sphinx357 · January 24, 2004 4:00PM

<< <i>

>>

Mr. Red X, your "pictures" aren't linked to files, look at 'em. They're linked to directories. That doesn't work.

TwoSides2aCoin · February 20, 2014 2:24PM

Back to the future.

MGLICKER · February 20, 2014 2:28PM

Great old thread. I have only cracked about a dozen holders. Use two pair of heavy linesman pliers and even heavier gloves and goggles. Hard snap lengthwise is quick and effective.

RichieURich · February 20, 2014 2:37PM

The easiest way to remove a coin from a slab is to convince a dealer that the coin will upgrade.

MsMorrisine · February 20, 2014 2:39PM

It will be interesting to hear if the new plastic is harder to crack or easier.

I notice down at the bottom of the label needs some extra cuts before prying open or it cracks horizontally across instead of down the seam.

AUandAG · February 20, 2014 2:54PM

I just usually hand them to my wife and tell her how much I paid for it,

She throws,

I duck,

Slab hits wall,

Slab falls apart,

Coin lands softly on the carpet,

Repeat as necessary.

bob

BLUEJAYWAY · February 20, 2014 5:25PM

Usually a playback of a pre-recorded explanation of the new health care law will do the trick. After a few minutes the case cracks out of confusion.

lordmarcovan · February 20, 2014 5:35PM

I used to use a hammer but don't even use that anymore.

I have a fiendishly simple and quick method that doesn't even require any tools (though a pair of pliers can come in handy).

I just take the slab out to my front porch, insert the top (label) portion between two of the boards so about maybe half an inch of it is in the gap, then use the leverage to crack the slab by pushing it in one direction, usually with my shoe, or sometimes with my hand. (Though I do wear a heavy leather work glove if the latter, because one doesn't want plastic shards sticking in one's hand).

Try it, if you've got a porch or deck with spaces between the boards or slabs. Super easy.

Once you've cracked the top of the slab off, if the two halves around the coin are still in one piece, you can gingerly use a pair of pliers or a table knife to separate them. I can usually have a coin out with a single crack, in something like three or four seconds.

ambro51 · February 20, 2014 7:41PM

Tape it to a board and from 200 yards away shoot the corners off with a .
.458 Winchester Magnum. Works every time. If you miss, you get a "holed coin".

LochNESS · February 20, 2014 7:58PM

Oy

OPA · February 20, 2014 9:59PM

<< <i>I simply beat them with a hammer while wearing eye protection, I hold them on the sides and hammer away, usuallt they split enough to where you can then open them with your hands. Wear eye protection so nothing flys into your eye... >>

But I keep a towel around and under the slab before I smack it.

Good grief, didn't see that some one regurgitated a 10 year old thread...I have no idea and have never removed a coin from the "new slabs."

mozin · February 21, 2014 4:02AM

My solution for cracking a slab, any slab, is simply to submit it to PCGS for grading. Have not tried to crack a slab at home for about fifteen years. Mind you, the coins I bought the last fifteen years are worth a lot more than the coins I bought prior.

OldEastside · February 21, 2014 4:47AM

I have used my Bandsaw in the past, takes about 4 seconds if that !!

Steve

LochNESS · February 21, 2014 9:55AM

<< <i>My solution for cracking a slab, any slab, is simply to submit it to PCGS for grading. Have not tried to crack a slab at home for about fifteen years. Mind you, the coins I bought the last fifteen years are worth a lot more than the coins I bought prior. >>

Wait ... that doesn't make sense. My understanding is that the cracking / resubmission game only pays off on big coins. As a dealer, if you crack a $50 coin and it goes up a grade to $65 you lost. But crack a big coin worth $2,500 and go up a grade to $4,000-5,000, you profit thousands. So why would you not crack higher-end coins? unless you are confident they are graded accurately. But we all know the market grades go up a bit over time. Especially with the + mark.

D · February 21, 2014 10:02AM

All of the comments with hammers were, and are very frightening to me.

I use : End Nippers

You just use them on either side of the coin in the slab and it pulls apart in two whole pieces.

There's no shattering, shards, or anything like that.

-D

SmEagle1795 · February 21, 2014 10:22AM

Hit it a couple times on each side with a hammer, stick in a screw driver, and pry apart as needed. It's cathartic.

lkeigwin · February 21, 2014 11:22AM

This takes only a couple of seconds and always works. It's foolproof. For hard PCGS plastic.
Lance.

zas107 · February 21, 2014 3:08PM

Tin snips or similar at the middle of a PCGS slab, and for ngc squeeze the slab along the seam with a vice and it will pop open. Old anacs slabs snip along middle of slab and the whole slab should crack in half horizontally. Segs slabs are indestructible (only half kidding).

What's the best way to crack a slab?

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