Hi all, Just bought a couple of Canadian Royal Mint Olympic Commemorative 1975 era proof sets. There are $5 and $10 silver coins in capsules which are proving impossible to open. Does anyone have any tricks or suggestions as to opening clear capsules without breaking them? There doesn't seem to be any rim to prize open. I would like to open them - few ugly spots on some of the coins. Maybe I will need to sacrifice the capsules or live with the spots. Thanks for any hints and tips.
are these in the capsule only, or the capsule surrounded by a black plastic box with a flip cover? if it is in the box, the capsule is actually glued to the box.
The coins are all individually in clear acrylic capsules - like Airtite. I've tried to get finger nails on a tiny edge but nothing budges. Normally I have been able to open capsules before but these are a real challenge. If I use a tool like a knife edge etc I fear I will damage the capsule. I also tried placing one coin in boiling water thinking air expansion might pop it but no luck.
Yeah, I had two of the $10 ones. Best bet is to leave them in the capsule. From what I could tell from mine, both the individual and in the case, they use a small amount of glue to seal the capsules. If you have a box cutter, you may be able to run the blade around the lip and then use it to pry the edges up a bit like a lever, but spotting in these capsules is common and if you don't want to place the coin in a new capsule, then you're better off not ruining the one it is in.
Many thanks for your comments. I succeeded in prizing one open and agree that the cap was spot glued around the rim. I've given up now because I am damaging the capsules and don't have replacements to hand. A couple of coins are covered in spots and a couple show some sort of tarnish at one or two places right on the rim perhaps caused by a drop of this glue chemically attacking the alloy - they are now 35 years old so not unexpected. One coin looked badly smeared and I thought it might have been the inside surface of the capsule so I had to break it open. It was the coin that was marked and at first glance it looked as if the coin was plated and the plating was rubbed away - quite ugly so I thought what the f**k I am going to polish this proof coin. As it was from our infamous RCM and well know for milky spots ( various other blogs on this topic ) I tried the cleaning methods but I didn't have ammonia. Nothing worked so I resorted to a jewellers cleaning cloth for silver and managed to remove most of the worst. The coin looks much better but of course under the loupe I can see my hairline polishing scratches. As I have now degraded this coin to bullion only value I would be interested in knowing if anyone has been able to repolish silver to mint condition. Does anyone know what materials i.e. polishing compound and brush / buffing material is used in finishing the original highly polished blanks in the mint before pressing ?
