I recently bought a wonderful AU-53 Hard Times Token (Rulau HT 9). It is slabbed by "First Token Grading Service." I vaguely remember this enterprise but I can find no reference to their current existence with a Google search. My question applies not only to this transitory grading service but to all of the "here today, gone tomorrow" services.

As a collector or dealer would you "crack it out" and grade it as you see it or would you leave it in the current holder? In this case I feel the grade is accurate. However, I've seen enough AU Morgan Dollars in an off brand holder graded MS-65 to realize that the holder actually diminishes the value of the coin / medal / token contained within if the buyer perceives the grading service as inferior.

My question is: TO CRACK OR NOT TO CRACK?