I have a small gold coin that is sealed in a hard plastic case. I’d like to open it and handle the coin. What are the consequences of doing so? Let’s assume I handle it carefully and don’t drop it into my pocket with my keys and razor blades. I plan to handle it gently and then place it back into the case for storage.
Here’s a picture of the front and back of the item in question. Interestingly, the case itself is a very durable plastic. It feels as rigid as steel, with absolutely no flexibility at all. Amazing, considering how thin it is. I don’t even see a seem and I’m not sure how I’d go about opening it, in the event I decide to do so.
I think the Professional Coin Grading Service case is designed to prevent what you wish to do. If it weren’t, unscrupulous persons could substitute a highly-graded coin with a lower-graded coin. The difference between an MS67 and an MS69 can be hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars, but the differences difficult to see.
You’ll definitely lose the value associated with the fact that the coin has been “slabbed” - professionally graded and sealed in its case (which, as you note, is intentionally made hard to open). You could, of course, pay to have this done again - it costs something like $25.
If you were really careful when handling the coin, its condition - and thus its value - would not change. But unless you know exactly what you’re doing, it would be easy to end up with a substantially less valuable coin.
There are cases where a professional will remove a coin from a holder like that but it has its risks. Lets say I send in a coin I think is MS64 and it comes back graded MS62 ---- I’m going to crack that plastic and submit it again. Chances are it may come back with the grade I wanted/expected. The big risk is that when the holder cracks, the plastic (edge of) could scratch ot damage the coin thus lowering its value. Major bummer all around.
In your case, having a MS68, leave well enough alone. I didn’t look up the census numbers on that issue but thats high enough to make the plastic worth a extra amount over the raw (uncertified) value of the coin.
FYI - Slabs (encapsulated) are faked as well as coins are; one of the reasons a lot of the companies have changed their slabs over the year. In some cases on eBay people have bought coins to find out that both the coin and the slab were bogus. We had a customer bring in a platinum coin where the case and coin were both faked. If something is worth money, someone out there is going to try to fake it. Buy from people you know or places that have been around 10+ years - its safer.
Don’t do it!!! You have a beautiful MS68 coin, and removing it and handling it may seriously reduce its value. Just removing it from its holder may cause it to get scratched, and carefully handling it may result in fingerprints, no matter how carefully you do it. Just don’t.
Go ahead and do it. It’s not like a coin from Mauritius from 1971 is a hot item. It’s almost certainlky worth just he gold value, even if certified MS68.
Put it on edge on a very hard surface. Get a hammer and pound the edge a few times. Turn the “slab” and hit the next side. Continue until it cracks. Remove the coin carefully, and only handle it by the edge. Never clean the coin.
I know the collectors here will laugh at that comment, but I remember when “slabbing” was pretty new and there were a lot of people who felt that PCGS would kill coin collecting by turning coins from a tangible art object to…well, a soulless piece of plastic. And I suppose it’s true in a way, especially for your coin. “It’s gold! From Mauritius! In my hand!” somehow seems cooler than “It’s gold! From Mauritius! In a big chunk of plastic!”
Now if you had an MS-68 1909-S VDB Lincoln…keep that in the slab (and give a serious auction house a call). But I agree with samclem here. The fact that it’s MS-68 probably just means it sat in a vault until someone slabbed it. I can’t believe it’s worth much more than spot.
