Need Help Opening An Old Plastic Tube Of Lincolns

My idea.... plastic pipe cutters. You'd want to remove the top and bottom of the tube, slowly tightening to drop both off, then, one that you can pass though sideways, it's like an electric cable jacket stripper where you can set it so the blade just cuts the plastic and doesn't hit the coins, then a little tappy tap. and it should fracture with minimal damage and come apart like a clam shell.

Might not be the cheapest if you don't have these tools laying around though,
so, probably could score the tube lengthwise a few times with a razor knife without getting to the coins and then I dunno, pry at it to complete the cut?

Then there's "Hot knife". A dull edge so it doesn't scratch the rims, but hot enough to melt the plastic... a wood burning soldering iron type thing maybe?

oh and Patience. the best tool doing anything annoying and frustrating is to be patient and put it down until you are clear and calm again, the Tortoise beats the Hare.

Heat gently applied--slow and easy.

Wondering... Some plastics get soft in pure acetone.

Keep us posted!

I am so doing this tomorrow. We're having 95 degree days right now in NJ. Very hot inside parked cars. I'll put that roll right on my dash, in the direct sun. If I can bust this thing open, will post an update, maybe photo tomorrow night.

Ii forgot to mention. Use safety glasses for this procedure.

At this point, I don't think I'm going to find anything spectacular in this tube. Might use an axe to smash this thing apart and release these into the wild...

The type is the problem and I think yours should be fine. I have some tubes from the late 1980s that are fine. They are Whitman brand.


It was worth a try, in my opinion. Thank you for sharing the results.

I think my solution was the best!

Could be pricey and a bit dangerous, but immersion of a full tube in pure acetone might prove interesting.