Picked Up A Few Upgrades For Dansco Type, Halves And Dime

Ah to crack or not to crack, I'm stuck with that delema on my early commemorative halves.

Do it... let the album fever flow through you... I can feel your desire to upgrade the hole... ;) I have decided to look at it like jbuck just crack it out before I have too much time to think about it and never look back.

KenKat .... I was hoping you would offer a reply.


I was wondering how you got so many nice coins in your
7070 ....now I know .. breaking all those nice slabs open.

I would never, ever crack a coin out of a slab that has a green bean. If I needed one for an album I would buy a suitable non stickered coin to crack out.

I had also been advised years ago it is not a wise thing to crack out MS-65 or higher graded coins.

But, they are your coins and if you want to release them from their plastic confines that is your choice.

I like to buy raw where I can because I really do agonize over cracking out coins as I know it is not really the best idea from a financial or resale standpoint. Ultimately, the coins are first and foremost for my enjoyment though and the albums are how I like to collect. But of course there are other methods too.

I usually only buy slabbed where I can't really find a raw coin in the grade or am worried about counterfeits. Looking at the 7070, I think everything was bought raw with the exception of the 20 cent piece, the no motto Seated dollar, the Trade dollar and the silver Quarter (got a bargain). A lot of those slabs are earlier date Lincolns just because it is really hard to find raw ones that haven't been messed with in some way.

With the 3c Nickel, I would at least think about maybe picking up a nice raw AU for that 7070 slot. You could probably find something in the $50 range at a coin show and then leave the MS64 in the slab but I don't know - it is a tough call. One of the things I liked about the 7070 in the grade range I did (average higher VF overall) was that I didn't have to worry about really expensive MS coins; a VF or XF coin is probably pretty safe in the album as it's already been around the block.

I do know when I finally bite the bullet and get that 09-S VDB, unless I get something raw from a VERY trusted source, it will probably stay in it's slab. I don't think I've cracked any slab over about the $300 threshold.

Once you've ruined a few coins you kinda get the hang of it!

After looking at this coin closer .....
I was buying a lot that day ... And did not check out
each coin as close as I should have.

This 3 cent coin has a spot of green in th "O" of "OF".

I am thinking I better crack it out and get some Verdi-Care on it.

I am glad I got it at a good price

Love seeing the photos of cracked slabs as much as seeing the coins.