I showed a potted casino token several months ago, a $100 from Ramada Express, Laughlin. The paperweight was a truncated square pyramid with a depression molded in the top to hold a golf ball (part of a golf tournament presentation?). The token looked unused.

This is the thing reassembled to show what it first looked like.

I figured the silver token was probably undamaged if I could get it out without touching it with any crude metal tools. Jim Follis suggested just notching the top and using a wedge to split it along the face of the token. That sounded too simple and too crude .

I tried freezing the block and hitting it with a hammer. Nothing.

I tried dry ice and hit it with a hammer (a lot). Nothing.

Tried to buy some liquid nitrogen to get it really cold (and brittle) and even bought a dewar flask big enough to hold the thing. It was open at the top though, and the supplier wouldn't fill the flask for me to take home for safety reasons.

Thought about it for a few weeks, and nothing else popped into my brain so thought I'd try Jim's method.

Put it in a vice and used a hack saw to cut a slot in the top parallel to the token, and about a 1/4" deep. Still about 1/8" away from the token edge.

Used a cold chisel in the slot and hit it twice with a hammer. The darned thing split neatly into two halves with the face of the chip now open to the air (just the way Jim said it would )!

That's where I am now... trying to figure the best way to free the token now that I can actually touch it and see the edges. I'm afraid to just use a knife to pry it out, as the metal is fairly soft. Will give it a few days an see what I can think of. Thinking of cutting a slot next to it with a saw to give a way to get under it (you can see the start of a slot, done before I thought I'd better stop before something slips). Other ideas are a small amount of solvent to disolve the plastic and free the token in its pit. Maybe something hot to melt the plastic away from the edge?

Looking for ideas.

If I finally get it out, I'll explain how it was accomplished.