I have a Nero denarius that I bought in a protective case authenticated by ANACS. I have several other coins and have them all in 2x2 flips. I much prefer to have all my coins together in a coin album than in differs types of holders. Is it a horrible idea to crack open the ANACS holder and take the coin out? It looks like it only costs $30 if I wanted to get it re-authenticated down the road. Anyone else done this before?
It's not horrible. Tips are often shared on this list for cracking slabs and then discarding the useless slabs forever.
Ancient coins are not sensitive to hand-holding, dinging against a
stone, leaving out in the rain, or jiggling in a pocket because most have already endured years of circulation, and none have fragile proof surfaces. So, the "protective case" adds no protection whilst removing all the harmless enjoyment of handling the coin and being able to inspect it closely, edges included. Since it came from an "
ANACS holder" your coin has already been authenticated. It never needs to be authenticated again in its life (and certainly not in your life). Grading of
ancient coins is completely subjective and relies on the eye of the beholder (one person loves green patinas, another brown, the next likes shiny surfaces, the one after
toning, one might value sharpness above all else, the next person likes smooth evenly worn surfaces, etc.etc). So, slabbing adds nothing to your coin. It does not
help you authenticate it. It impeded your enjoyment of the coin whilst not really protecting it. And the data on
identification and grading is usually useless.
Crack it open, and never slab again.
