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How To Get Coins Off Plastic Cube?

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Pillar of the Community
United States
4132 Posts
 Posted 06/21/2012  5:57 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add CaptainFwiffo to your friends list
Maybe you could saw off as much of the plastic as possible with a hacksaw, then remove the rest with acetone (assuming the plastic is the sort dissolved by acetone). Might end up going through more acetone than the coin is worth, though.
Bedrock of the Community
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 Posted 06/22/2012  12:15 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Conder101 to your friends list
Use a band saw to remove as much of the excess plastic as possible. Immerse in liquid nitrogen. The extreme cold of the nitrogen will make the plastic extremely brittle and the very different expansion rates of the two materials will cause the plastic to pop loose from the surface of the coin. Remove the coin plastic lump from the nitrogen and hit with hard plastic mallet or a a hammer through a wood block. The brittle plastic will shatter and come away from the coin. It can be done, but in most cases it isn't worth the time, effort, or expense. By the way if you do this be very careful handling the nitrogen. If you don't know what you are doing, it can be very dangerous.
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 Posted 06/22/2012  12:41 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add bobby131313 to your friends list
Sawing that stuff is very difficult, the friction makes the plastic melt almost instantly and gums up the blade.
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 Posted 06/22/2012  4:10 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add just carl to your friends list

Quote:
Sawing that stuff is very difficult, the friction makes the plastic melt almost instantly and gums up the blade.

I too found that out attempting to free coins from slabs. Using a Dremel or Saber saw with a metal cutting blade is almost fun. As fast as you can move, the blade starts to get hot and remelts the plastic right back to where it was.
A harsh toothed blade for rough cutting wood usually shatters the plastic.
Going to any shool and asking if you could use some liquid Nitrogen might be fun watching them call the police. Going to any school and asking to use their chem lab is something I'd like to watch with all the things happening with chemicals.
Back to that coin in plastic. One sure method would be a Butane Torch. Yes it will possibly melt all the plastic, create plumes of deadly gasses, damage the surface of the coin. BUT it will be out of that plastic. MAYBE.
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 Posted 06/22/2012  7:35 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Earle42 to your friends list
Liquid Nitrogen can be bought by anyone and is inexpensive. Contact a local company that handles CO2 and O2 tanks. Do some googling to find out a safe way to store/transport it though - or even ask the supplier. I used to get it for my chemistry classes and the kids loved it the class demonstrations. I actually just got a large styrofoam (thick - not dollar store special) cooler, they filled it. and we tightly taped/bungie cord wrapped it. The container went into the trunk (made it so it would not move). Even if there had been an accident and it was hit, it would have evaporated so quickly that no harm would have been done.
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 Posted 06/22/2012  7:40 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add GoldenRing89 to your friends list
Maybe buy a few 5 packs of cheap saw-zall blades made for wood cutting. Lock it in a vice and put it some time cutting through it slowly. Or if just a hammer didn't work, maybe a hammer and chisel? Whatever you do make sure you wear eye protection, it would not be fun to take a 1/4" piece of plastic to the eye ball!!
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 Posted 06/22/2012  8:02 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add bobby131313 to your friends list

Quote:
Or if just a hammer didn't work, maybe a hammer and chisel?


Be very careful you don't pull a Bryce Harper when you do. This stuff feels very hard in your hand, but when you hit it with a hammer it's like hitting a golf ball.
Pillar of the Community
United States
1231 Posts
 Posted 06/23/2012  10:47 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add onejinx to your friends list
PMMA Poly(methyl methacrylate) which is typically used to make these cube,can be removed with any of the following....acetone, benzene, chloroform, MEK, THF.

But without access to a lab you won't be using most of those
Edited by onejinx
06/23/2012 10:47 am
Valued Member
Finland
294 Posts
 Posted 06/23/2012  3:26 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Eurocoin to your friends list
Well, those coins inside the cube are not keys or pricey at all, some of them are just hard to obtain here (for example Brazil 100 reais 1894 in good shape). So maybe I just buy the cube and keep it as a one piece . Thanks for everyone who participated - really surprised of your knowledge again!
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United States
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 Posted 06/24/2012  09:14 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add just carl to your friends list

Quote:
Liquid Nitrogen can be bought by anyone and is inexpensive. Contact a local company that handles CO2 and O2 tanks. Do some googling to find out a safe way to store/transport it though - or even ask the supplier. I used to get it for my chemistry classes and the kids loved it the class demonstrations.

And with enough money an entire company could be hired to remove those coins from the plastic. Why spend a few thousand dollars attempting to use all sorts of chemicals and/or Nitrogen when you could simply hire an entire organization like DuPont, for example, to do this. What is a few million dollars to free those coins?
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 Posted 06/29/2012  1:52 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add baysinger626 to your friends list
Has anyone tried to melt the plastic? It might result with some discoloration of the coin.. would there be any other drawbacks?

Side note.. I wonder what would happen if you put this in a microwave? It might not help, but would certainly be fun to watch!
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11951 Posts
 Posted 07/02/2012  9:13 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add GR58 to your friends list
I spent a couple years getting a 1967 SMS set out of a block of plastic ..
My mother had bought it at a yard sale for 50 cents.

I tried the hammer .. and the saw .. took a lot of effort but got a couple out.

The last couple coins came out best by taking my drill press and making holes all around the coins then putting them in my vice and hitting with a 2 pound hammer
New Member
United States
10 Posts
 Posted 12/01/2022  1:48 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add ProPick to your friends list
I have personally opened 2 cubes with full set of dated coins. Very time consuming but not difficult. Band saw & table vise. Cut each coin out as close as possible without harming the coin. Place in vise & apply pressure until the plastic cracks a little. Rotate 30 degrees and do the same. So on and soforth. Plastic will eventually fall off coin unharmed.
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 Posted 12/02/2022  01:58 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add jacrispies to your friends list
Old topic... but would be a good science project to find the best way to remove coins from the clear plastic substance. I'd take a 30lb sledge to it first, probably try a variety of chemicals too.
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 Posted 12/02/2022  08:57 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add tdziemia to your friends list
Poly methylmethacrylate (clear acrylic) should be soluble in toluene.

If I really wanted to give it a shot, I would first apply some of the mechanical techniques mentoned above to remove most of the plastic, and then remove any remaining acrylic plastic with a bath in toluene, which should be done outside since toluene is toxic.
Edited by tdziemia
12/02/2022 08:58 am
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