Question About "Cracking" Coins Out of Slabs

[astrostu]

Personally, I'm a fan of raw coins. I like protection, I like to know the grade (esp. for MS where I have trouble), but to me, having coins slabbed kinda takes away from the experience of owning the coin.

 

Right now, I really don't collec many coins that I can't find raw, but I know that I'll get to the point eventually when the coin that I really want for my series (e.g. a 1921 Peace dollar) or my type set (such as, well, nearly any nice 18th or 19th century coin) is going to be slabbed and I won't be able to find it raw. But, for some reason, the idea of cracking a coin out of a slab just rubs me the wrong way, though I'm not sure why.

 

So what are peoples' thoughts on cracking these out? I know that many people crack coins out of slabs, and so I'm curious as to why they do it (like for the same reason as I list above, or something else?).

 

Thanks for the info.

[MBA101]

Find a good one in a new ANACS slab. Makes the cracking easy, and even if you want to keep it slabbed, you would crack it and send it to NGC/PCGS anyway.

[Ambassador]

I know exactly what you mean. I collect mint and proof sets annually and fill holes in Dansco albums out of circulation, buying what I absolutely have to to fill a hole. I bought my first slabs in Parsippany last week and have been having buyer's remorse all week. I think what I have now is my albums and mint products for fun and will probably build on my slab collection with the hopes of some investment growth. Of course now that I bought some slabs you can expect that market to tank.

[bsshog40]

I order extra sets from the mints, only uncirculated, to fill my Dansco albums. I don't mind ripping those from cellophane. I mostly buy raw coins myself. The only slabbed ones that I have started to collect are jeffersons merely for the registry set I started a couple months back. Those of course I have to stay with NGC or PCGS. I will get an occassional S.E. in a slab but I usually already have a raw one of the same year. The slabbed one is just an extra to have. I prefer raw to slabbed but I have also bought some SGS slabs "very" reasonable to see if something is decent for future slabbing. They look nice but as everyone knows, they grade all coins at MS or PF70 . These are not the case but some look close enough to be 69's at least. I'll crack these at some point. I don't mind cracking these off the wall graded slabs.

[lkenefic]

I purchase mostly raw myself but ...embrace the idea... Start small. The first coins I cracked were third tier slabed Morgan dollars I got on ebay for around melt. I've only cracked about a dozen or so coins so far, but it's definitely gotten easier. BTW...I'm putting these coins in albums...Whitman IHC and a Dansco 7070...and I've kept three Large Cents in archival flips (the former TPG label in the back of the flip).

 

Leo

[rexcat]

If I planned on never selling any of my coins they all would be out of their slabs ,

but there will come the day that I’ll be selling my collections and to get the best prices they all really need to be slabbed.

 

Also my coins are probably safest while in my clumsy hands if they just stay well protected in their slabs, don’t need any value destroying “accidents” around here!