Cracking slabs?

How do you safely crack open a PCGS slab? Without damaging the coin?

"MKW" wrote in message
...
How do you safely crack open a PCGS slab? Without damaging the coin?

Don't use a hacksaw, cost me about $300. Lately I have been putting them in
a vise, sideways, putting as much pressure as possible. And then tapping
with a screwdriver handle. Use safety glasses.

Terry wrote:
"MKW" wrote in message
...
How do you safely crack open a PCGS slab? Without damaging the coin?

Don't use a hacksaw, cost me about $300. Lately I have been putting
them in a vise, sideways, putting as much pressure as possible. And
then tapping with a screwdriver handle. Use safety glasses.

I don't crack slabs, but I know people who do. The most successful use the
vise technique Terry describes though some will wrap the slab in a cloth
first to contain a possible fully freed coin.

MKW wrote:
How do you safely crack open a PCGS slab? Without damaging the coin?

The hacksaw method is safest, from what I hear, but expensive as an
initial investment. Dealers use special slab cracking devices at shows
-- don't know much about them. What works for a lot of people, me
included, is the low-tech approach of simply cracking it with a hammer
on a hard, concrete floor (garage, for instance) or pavement. Put a
towel underneath and on top. Whack at one long side a few times over the
towel covering, then one of the flatter sides. Sometimes afterward you
have to pry apart broken pieces with a screwdriver. I've never damaged a
coin this way, and I've done this with some pretty pricey coins, but
it's never an anxiety-free process.

--

Consumer: http://rg.ancients.info/guide
Connoisseur: http://rg.ancients.info/glom
Counterfeit: http://rg.ancients.info/bogos

On Jun 9, 11:18*pm, Reid Goldsborough
wrote:
MKW wrote:
How do you safely crack open a PCGS slab? *Without damaging the coin?

The hacksaw method is safest, from what I hear, but expensive as an
initial investment. Dealers use special slab cracking devices at shows
-- don't know much about them. What works for a lot of people, me
included, is the low-tech approach of simply cracking it with a hammer
on a hard, concrete floor (garage, for instance) or pavement. Put a
towel underneath and on top. Whack at one long side a few times over the
towel covering, then one of the flatter sides. Sometimes afterward you
have to pry apart broken pieces with a screwdriver. I've never damaged a
coin this way, and I've done this with some pretty pricey coins, but
it's never an anxiety-free process.

--

Consumer:http://rg.ancients.info/guide
Connoisseur:http://rg.ancients.info/glom
Counterfeit:http://rg.ancients.info/bogos

Reid--please explain "long side" and "flat side." Both sides are
flat, aren't they??

MKW wrote:

How do you safely crack open a PCGS slab? Without damaging the coin?

I use a hacksaw. Other methods using hammers and cutters risk damaging
the coins.

JAM

Terry wrote:

"MKW" wrote in message
...
How do you safely crack open a PCGS slab? Without damaging the coin?

Don't use a hacksaw, cost me about $300. Lately I have been putting them in
a vise, sideways, putting as much pressure as possible. And then tapping
with a screwdriver handle. Use safety glasses.

How did using a hacksaw cost you $300?

JAM

Reid Goldsborough wrote:

MKW wrote:
How do you safely crack open a PCGS slab? Without damaging the coin?

The hacksaw method is safest, from what I hear, but expensive as an
initial investment. Dealers use special slab cracking devices at shows
-- don't know much about them. What works for a lot of people, me
included, is the low-tech approach of simply cracking it with a hammer
on a hard, concrete floor (garage, for instance) or pavement. Put a
towel underneath and on top. Whack at one long side a few times over the
towel covering, then one of the flatter sides. Sometimes afterward you
have to pry apart broken pieces with a screwdriver. I've never damaged a
coin this way, and I've done this with some pretty pricey coins, but
it's never an anxiety-free process.

--

Consumer: http://rg.ancients.info/guide
Connoisseur: http://rg.ancients.info/glom
Counterfeit: http://rg.ancients.info/bogos

What is so expensive about a hacksaw?

JAM

On Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:25:49 -0400, Frank Galikanokus
wrote:

Terry wrote:

"MKW" wrote in message
...
How do you safely crack open a PCGS slab? Without damaging the coin?

Don't use a hacksaw, cost me about $300. Lately I have been putting them in
a vise, sideways, putting as much pressure as possible. And then tapping
with a screwdriver handle. Use safety glasses.

How did using a hacksaw cost you $300?

Well, a search at shop.yahoo.com does bring up some expensive
hacksaws. But I don't know how they differ from hacksaws costing
$25-$40. Maybe someone can explain? Since you are cutting plastic I
don't know why you would need a heavy duty hacksaw or a powered one.

"Frank Galikanokus" wrote in message
...
MKW wrote:

How do you safely crack open a PCGS slab? Without damaging the coin?

I use a hacksaw. Other methods using hammers and cutters risk damaging
the coins.

JAM

I've never had a problem using a hammer and sharp 3/4" wood chisel to
carefully attack the seam of the slab farthest away from the coin. Usually
this will expose the gap between two halves of the slab enough to allow the
chisel to be used to twist and pry the halves apart in order to free the
coin. And, yes, I recommend a towel to catch any chards as well as the
coin, should it slip out of the slab.