Anyone else here break open slabs for their type set?

Goober · January 22, 2007 4:08AM

I have to admit, whenever I show coins to family or friends, I hate sitting there with 20 slabs...so I've done it! I took my handy Dewalt and started a new type set in a Dansco 7070. Of course it freaked out the wife who's only care was...."If you die, how am I going to sell that thing?"...and "I won't be able to get as much for them now." But as Kramer said in the Seinfeld episode when he was going "Commando"...
"Jerry! I'm FREE and I'M LOVING IT!"

tmot99 · January 22, 2007 4:08AM

yep

Cladiator · January 22, 2007 4:09AM

affirm

guitarwes · January 22, 2007 4:10AM

I have popped out several for my type set, but sometimes I am still a prostitute to the plastic. I just can't do it.......

Baley · January 22, 2007 4:11AM

almost every coin in my 7070 was previously certified

jhusman · January 22, 2007 4:11AM

I do. I stick the PCGS labels on the inside back cover of my Dansco.

RYK · January 22, 2007 4:12AM

All the time. I am planning to break one open later this week.

OKbustchaser · January 22, 2007 4:13AM

Not necessarily for an album, but I crack every slabbed coin I buy simply because I prefer raw over slabbed.

dthigpen · January 22, 2007 4:14AM

I've often done so in the past when putting together various 7070s.

ChuckC · January 22, 2007 4:19AM

Not for my 7070, but for my Lincoln cents set. I put a scratch in my 1938 1c (from a PCGS slab)!! Fortunately, it was in inexpensive coin.

Lesson: be careful with your drill, and be careful that the plastic flakes do not come into contact with the coin!

Baley · January 22, 2007 4:21AM

drill? plastic flakes??

no no no, use bench vice: squeeze, pop short seams, sqeeze, pop long seams, open slab like book.

WaterSport · January 22, 2007 4:29AM

Still cracking here as I upgrade my 1909-1940 Capital plastic Board.

WS

JustBustDimes · January 22, 2007 4:32AM

All of my Dimes are free and unfettered!

"Plastic! How do you wear these things!! Look at that--they're baggin' up,

they're rising in! An' there's nothing holding me in place! I'm flip

pin'! I'm floppin'!

Plastic is for Pamela Anderson, not early busts!

ChuckC · January 22, 2007 4:35AM

<< drill? plastic flakes??

no no no, use bench vice: squeeze, pop short seams, sqeeze, pop long seams, open slab like book. >>

I forgot to mention the flat-head screwdriver I struck with a hammer to pry into the slab. I think I drove the plastic flakes into the coin with the screwdriver!! New rule: use a vice! (which I should just go out and buy).

123cents · January 22, 2007 4:37AM

I completed by 7070 type set many years ago. It is a lower grade set, for the most part, and I only cracked out 3 slabbed coins to complete it.

etexmike · January 22, 2007 4:37AM

I don't own a 7070 yet.

But I have cracked many slabs and will continue to do so.

-------------

etexmike

Barndog · January 22, 2007 4:46AM

<< I do. I stick the PCGS labels on the inside back cover of my Dansco. >>

same here, except I also put NGC and ANACS labels there too.

TypeCollector · January 22, 2007 4:46AM

I've definitely cracked 'em out for my 7070. There aren't any good local shops in my area, so I depend mainly on internet/mail purchases. For max protection, many of the coins I've purchased were slabbed by PCGS/NGC, but not for long. I'm expecting some (slabbed) additions to my set in the mail (hopefully today) so my hammer is ready

tmot99 · January 22, 2007 4:47AM

I use tin snips and clip into the plastic starting at the lower right edge. The first snip is the hardest. After that, I can snip all the way arround the circle. I also cover the slab with a towl. Plastic can go flying. For NGC, just take a hammer to the seams a few times all the way around, it opens easily.

19Lyds · January 22, 2007 4:49AM

DeWalt??

Hopefully you saved any PCGS labels since PCGS will pay .50 cents each to get the coins out of the pop reports! Just mail them in.

Edited to Add:

I guess I don't really understand why someone would pay money for a PCGS graded coin or have a coin graded by PCGS and then pop it out of the slab?

The Grade Guarantee goes bye bye. (Mistakes are made even by the best)
The Authentication guarantee goes bye bye. (Mistakes are made here too)
And the value of the coin drops significantly especially for those that come after you to liquidate your estate.

The PCGS labels by themselves are pretty much worthless as far as connecting a label with a specific coin so whats the point?

I guess if I were to start a raw 7070, then I would fill it with raw coins, purchased based on my grade opinion in conjunction with the sellers price.

mirabela · January 22, 2007 4:49AM

The slab that makes it five minutes in my house without going under the nippers is a rare and lucky slab.

jhusman · January 22, 2007 4:50AM

Well, all I've purchased so far are PCGS to crack out - I'm sure there will be ANACS and NGC on that back cover soon.

Woodwind · January 22, 2007 5:20AM

I've done it with two for my Dansco 7070, an 1834 half-cent and a 1909 Half-Eagle. They were broken out of ICG and PCGS slabs respectively. Both graded XF-45 so they weren't worth much more in the slab than they are in the album.

If both coins were AU-50 or above they probably would have stayed in the slabs.

Barry · January 22, 2007 5:21AM

<< almost every coin in my 7070 was previously certified >>

Same here

LanLord · January 22, 2007 5:30AM

I have broken slabs for my 7070, Library of Coins type albums as well as regular Dansco collections.

I've been tempted recently to crack all my bust slabs just to hold them in my grubbies.

MrBreeze · January 22, 2007 5:42AM

Many of my Danscos are crackouts, also. I try to find the new, ANACS slabbed coins, so I can crack them with my hands.

ziggy29 · January 22, 2007 5:47AM

Yes, absolutely. The only time I hesitate is if the coin would lose a lot of market value if it were re-slabbed one grade lower -- unless I was VERY confident of the grade. Okay, in that sense it's the slab that loses the value, not the coin (since it's the same coin)...so while it is imbibing the Kool-Aid a little bit, I'm not going to get reamed just to make a point.

Aegis3 · January 22, 2007 5:48AM

<< DeWalt??

Hopefully you saved any PCGS labels since PCGS will pay .50 cents each to get the coins out of the pop reports! Just mail them in.

Edited to Add:

I guess I don't really understand why someone would pay money for a PCGS graded coin or have a coin graded by PCGS and then pop it out of the slab?

The Grade Guarantee goes bye bye. (Mistakes are made even by the best) >>

When you buy the coin and not the slab this is no concern. The grade on the label is then just mere text, whether you agree with it or not.

<< The Authentication guarantee goes bye bye. (Mistakes are made here too) >>

I'll grant that there are very few mistakes for the better known companies, and if you've been collecting a series for any meaningful amount of time you should be able to detect most counterfeits anyway. I don't consider this a very big issue then.

<< And the value of the coin drops significantly especially for those that come after you to liquidate your estate. >>

I seriously doubt that the people who will pay the most are going to really care whether the coin is slabbed or not. When this is not the case, well, that just means that the slabbed coins are like tulip bulbs. If you do plan on holding to death, make a list of dealers/other people your heirs should sell to. Slabs do not emit and honesty rays and if your heirs sell to the first person they find and who happens to be a dishonest dealer, such a dealer well screw them over whether the coins are raw or slabbed. If they find an honest dealer, they'll pay a fair amount, whether raw or slabbed.

<< I guess if I were to start a raw 7070, then I would fill it with raw coins, purchased based on my grade opinion in conjunction with the sellers price. >>

Buy the best you can afford and understand is (to a first approximation) a good motto, and if you intend to have raw coins, it's very easy to make any slabbed coin raw, so why limit yourself to those already raw?

tmot99 · January 22, 2007 5:50AM

<< I guess I don't really understand why someone would pay money for a PCGS graded coin or have a coin graded by PCGS and then pop it out of the slab? >>

Try to find nice coins raw. It's much harder to do. If it's worth slabbing, it usually has been. Not always, but most of the time.

For the ones that I have sent in for certification only to crack them out..
1) Gives me the confidence in grading. How good are my grading skills compared to....PCGS or NGC
2) When I die, it gives my family an idea of what grade the coin is. If they take it to a dealer who says in an AU when in actuallity its MS66, they know to move on. They can also get an idea of market value quickly. Certainly the grade could change upon re-submission, but it's a guide at that point.

TypeCollector · January 22, 2007 5:57AM

<< Edited to Add:

I guess I don't really understand why someone would pay money for a PCGS graded coin or have a coin graded by PCGS and then pop it out of the slab?

The Grade Guarantee goes bye bye. (Mistakes are made even by the best)
The Authentication guarantee goes bye bye. (Mistakes are made here too)
And the value of the coin drops significantly especially for those that come after you to liquidate your estate.

The PCGS labels by themselves are pretty much worthless as far as connecting a label with a specific coin so whats the point? >>

You've made some good points, but here is how I see it for my personal collecting enjoyment - I am pretty confident with grading a coin & determining whether it is "problem free" (in most cases) when I can inspect for myself before buying, but I have no local shop from which to buy quality raw coins. I've found that most of the coins (of the quality I want for my set) advertised on websites are already slabbed (I buy only from dealers who accept returns).

Whether slabbed or raw, I accept or reject a coin based on my own opinion, not just what's on the label, but I've found that buying slabbed coins greatly reduces my rejection rate (although I have returned slabbed coins, too). Do I pay more for the slabbed coin? Probably, but I always try to get the best value that I can for my money.

I collect for the love of coins, not the plastic. Should I ever need to recertify the coins for maximum return in case I decided to sell, they should recertify without problem, as should the ones I bought raw. I keep the labels just for the record. Is cracking-out risky? - sure it is. If PCGS/NGC can make mistakes, I certainly can. Bottom line is that I collect because I enjoy it, and I am willing to accept the risk.

planetsteve · January 22, 2007 6:12AM

<< Hopefully you saved any PCGS labels since PCGS will pay .50 cents each to get the coins out of the pop reports! Just mail them in.
>>

I haven't heard this and I was wondering about keeping the populations accurate. Is this for real?

Veep · January 22, 2007 6:31AM

I've got a nicely matched gold type set. Most of them were freed from slabs and now reside in a Capitol holder.

JJM · January 22, 2007 6:33AM

crackin slabs is my sub-hobby !

1977topps · January 22, 2007 6:35AM

I do it all the time.

Bochiman · January 22, 2007 7:02AM

<< almost every coin in my 7070 was previously certified >>

And, Baley, may I say...you have a ROCKING 7070!!!
One of the best I've ever seen (from your images)!

For ours, I have only cracked out 2 coins. A BTW commem in 64 and a 1868 shield nickel in AU.
I am a skeerdy cat and will buy raw for the 7070...if I buy it slabbed, it stays slabbed (though, I am doing a slabbed type set as well, too)

Cladiator · January 22, 2007 7:07AM

<< 

<< Hopefully you saved any PCGS labels since PCGS will pay .50 cents each to get the coins out of the pop reports! Just mail them in.
>>

I haven't heard this and I was wondering about keeping the populations accurate. Is this for real? >>

Yup, it's for real.

speety · January 22, 2007 12:02PM

I cracked out my first coin for my 7070 last weekend. I feel good for freeing that poor quarter!

TommyB · January 22, 2007 12:22PM

I've kind of screwed myself in this area because I cracked out an AU58 Trade Dollar to put in my 7070. I have now decided to sell off my 7070 to concentrate on finishing up my Lincoln set. Now I have to send the Trade Dollar in to get graded for selling on Ebay. Hopefully it comes back in 58 again.

jmj3esq · January 22, 2007 12:57PM

My type set is a lower graded set, so there is no need to do any crackouts. At least not to this point. I might have to when I get to the seated dollars/trade dollars and some of the rarer cents and half cents so that I can be sure they are authentic. I rarely crack out coins that im going to keep. I get too touchy feely and am afraid to damge them. I am very thankful for the slab.

BigE2 · January 22, 2007 1:10PM

Oh crap... You mean your supposed to take them out of the slabs before you put them into your 7070? No wonder I can't close the cover!!!

tmot99 · January 22, 2007 1:15PM

<< Oh crap... You mean your supposed to take them out of the slabs before you put them into your 7070? No wonder I can't close the cover!!! >>

covers · January 23, 2007 2:09AM

I cracked out all of the coins I had purchased to exhibit them in a stamp show last year (I put in Capital Plastic holders and mounted on page). Most were US type coins (first year if possible) in the AU58 to MS66 range. The "Paying the Postage" exhibit is here.

Some I sold as no longer in slab but with the ticket and some I re-submitted. I can state unequivocally that grading is not a science. Several expensive coins came back from PSGC in body bags despite having been cracked out of PCGS slabs. Ditto for NGC slabs. One, a 1909-S-VDB penny went from NGC MS65 to PCGS body bag. Made me wonder about preferential treatment given to submitters.

Also made me wonder if this hobby is about coins or investment commodities. I collect coins because I enjoy them but when I take a 35+% hit for cracking slabs on a $50,000 investment something is seriously wrong. Now colleting world crowns (idiot that I am)

mr1931S · January 23, 2007 2:35AM

"I stick the PCGS labels on the inside back cover of my Dansco."

I'll do the same when I crack out my yet-to-be-acquired UHR.

PerryHall · January 23, 2007 3:02AM

What good are the labels once you crack out your coins? When you sell your coins, do you think anyone will believe you when you claim the labels belong to your coins?

MajorDuty · January 23, 2007 3:09AM

<< What good are the labels once you crack out your coins? When you sell your coins, do you think anyone will believe you when you claim the labels belong to your coins? >>

If someone is fairly competent and secure with their own grading skills, and does not just buy the plastic like so many do, and actually buys the coin, then seeing the label might help confirm their own grading and add a bit of faith and security when considering purchasing said cracked out coins.

I feel I can spot problem coins, and if a label is withing what I thought the coin would grade, I'd personally put some faith in the seller they were being honest. But then again, I don't have a problem buying raw coins so a label is kind of moot in my case. Don't be chained down by plastic; free yourself.

*spelling

vega1 · January 23, 2007 3:16AM

Nope, my type set is slabbed and it will stay that way. I like my best coins slabbed, it makes me feel all comfy inside. Raw coins over $100 or so make me worry and I stress out over their storage. I'm sure some would say I am wrong to feel that way, but thats the way it is. I prefer the slab presentation to the album method personally.

mr1931S · January 23, 2007 3:22AM

"What good are the labels once you crack out your coins? When you sell your coins, do you think anyone will believe you when you claim the labels belong to your coins?"

This is a record that could be verified. Additionally, I would take a few pictures of my UHR with my smiling face next to it before carefully cracking the slab to get it out. This picture, along with the label, goes with the coin if and when I sell it.

PerryHall · January 23, 2007 3:41AM

<< "What good are the labels once you crack out your coins? When you sell your coins, do you think anyone will believe you when you claim the labels belong to your coins?"

This is a record that could be verified. Additionally, I would take a few pictures of my UHR with my smiling face next to it before carefully cracking the slab to get it out. This picture, along with the label, goes with the coin if and when I sell it. >>

Do you also guarantee that it will not body bag or come back in a lower grade if the new owner wants to get it reslabbed?

TypeCollector · January 23, 2007 3:45AM

<< Nope, my type set is slabbed and it will stay that way. I like my best coins slabbed, it makes me feel all comfy inside. Raw coins over $100 or so make me worry and I stress out over their storage. I'm sure some would say I am wrong to feel that way, but thats the way it is. I prefer the slab presentation to the album method personally. >>

I don't see how anyone could call this "wrong." It's your collection, and you should do as you please. I'm sure you are not alone in your thinking.

p8nt · January 23, 2007 3:51AM

Guilty as charged.

410a · January 23, 2007 3:56AM

I made a twentieth century Type Set with all slabbed coins. Housed it in a Capital Plastics holders with formerly know as the rarest Morgan dollar 1903 O in MS 63PL along with a 21 Peace dollar a 38D Walker in EF a 32 D Washington quarter in AU 50, mint marked dime, quarter and half dollars in the Barber series. Heck have some fun show you set to a dealer for "coin dealer check up day" or "let's hear the truth about these coins from an expert"
1908 S in AU 55 cent, 1949 S Franlin Half in MS 64 (the original rarest Franklin) old head talking, a very "unique SBA dollar" as it is the only one I own.
Regards, Michael

Anyone else here break open slabs for their type set?

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