I'm At 50%

I've never thought of the idea, but I would suggest a dremel or saw of some sort, or maybe some kind of very hot applied heat in a generalized area!

I've always used a hammer and a towel. I wrap the slab with a terrycloth handtowel and start "cracking". I equate it to cracking open a walnut. Tapping it and rotating it as I go.

As a kid, my folks paid me $.01 for every walnut I could crack that I was able to crack out in perfect 1/2 sections.

I wrap the slab in a towel and squeeze it nice and slowly in a large-ish bench vise until it pops. Clean; neat; minimum strength needed; safe for the coin and the hands. I would never trust the hammer method, even in the hand of a professional carpenter.

I love this thread!!

We've got separate forums for CRHer's, PM Stackers, MDer's... I think we may need a new separate forum for the Slab Crackers. Maybe one for the Coin Cleaners, too...

However, to the technical issue at hand... Pounding a cold chisel into the side seam of the slab (ABOVE the coin) can work fairly well, but the "put it in a big vise and keep on cranking" approach sounds pretty solid, too.

I followed this video here, however it took me a LOT more bangs to get it out.

I find that a bolt cutter makes quick work of a PCGS holder. I just position on the side and align it with the middle of the coin. The crack usually goes straight across the holder and you can just pull the two halves apart.

I just cut mine with a big pair of tin snips