Opening up slabs

[AndrewSL76]

Morning!

Ok, so I appreciate that this question may put me in the ‘mentalist’ category, but we’re all a little doo-lally in our own little ways, right??

I collect pre Victoria sixpences and half Sovereigns and anything ‘Victoria and beyond’ is not interesting for me. I know, philestine...

I also have all my coins in Quadrum Intercept capsules. I like the way they present in this format and it works for me with storage too. Seeing the dates runs sitting closely together for these small coins is really pleasing to the eye. 

Collecting the earlier sixpences is not easy and sometimes the available good coins are in slabs.  I have recently bought a few in slabs and want to move them into the collection. I am obviously concerned that the coins are in good nick and not worn down, but whether something is MS62 or MS70 has no consequence for me as I will not be selling the collection.

So, my question, is there a way to open a slab without causing damage to the coin? I intend on destroying the slab once opened and so don’t care if it breaks. 

Many thanks and apologies to those who love slabs and think I’m a terrible person!!!!

Andrew.

[KevjustKev]

Bandsaw if you have one?

[Shinus73]

A hacksaw works fine,

[Gildeon]

I have opened a couple and it proved easier than I was expecting, especially having seen some scary videos, with crazy efforts!

Just put it touching a concrete surface with the side and hitting it with a hammer. Did that in every side and soon it started splitting in two, easily and gradually. Very easy to separate after a point.

[motorbikez]

5 minutes ago, Shinus73 said:

A hacksaw works fine,

Hacksaw is the way to go I have done that with S1MS 69 BU 2oz monkey to complete my set.

[Guest]

My advice would be to keep the coins in slabs and slab the rest of your collection. 

If that’s too much I would ask you to please keep the labels and post them to me so that I can return the labels to PCGS or NGC so that the Population. census can be kept as good as it can be.

I have unslabbed quite a few coins and I use a vice and bend at the top. I am thinking of getting a little dremel saw to do this better. No damage yet to a coin I have removed but I always give labels back to NGC and I collect PCGS labels and give them back to PCGS.

 

[JunkBond]

I used an electric chop saw, cut the bottom and side off and prised the slab open , then went on to collect the rest in slabs and regretted it. 🙄

[RacerCool]

Instead of just putting a coin into a labeled slab, the coin should be put into a capsule, with the (or a) grading label placed onto the capsule, around the edge. Or maybe even etched into the edge (thus not obscuring either side of the coin.)

But this, encapsulating, would allow a stacker to more easily store his coins with his other coins, in tubes, etc. No more big, awkward, space-consuming slabs if the owner doesn't want it.

[ShaolinStacker]

I wrap the slab in a microfiber towel and hammer the top with a few good wacks. The slab comes apart easily after, and no mess to clean up. Done it at least 15 times. Never had any damage. 

[Stuntman]

Similar to the above - wrap the slab in a towel, put a thin bladed screwdriver into the side for the slab on the join, give it a few decent taps with a hammer.  Only done it once (on a relatively low value coin, an 1889 penny) but it worked fine.

 

Good luck 😊

[terakris]

I use a pair of pliers to crack the top corner slighly. once this is done, you can get a blade or screwdriver type thing in the crease of the slab and you can just them pop it open, working your way around to about half way. this way you have little risk of damaging the coin and the slab just opens up. Not sure id wanna hit mine with a hammer!  

[AndrewSL76]

Thanks for all the advice. I really appreciate this. I have decided to just leave things as they are and perhaps look for a second coin that is not slabbed and sell the slabbed version. Given the investment in slabbing the coin and taking into account what @Numistacker advised, I think it would be sad to crack them open. I'll just have to attend more auctions, go to more coin fares and spend more time on Ebay....*what a chore* !!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks again - you lot are the best.

Andrew.

[TonyS]

As a retired engineer I've used Gilbow shears to open such packaging.