Please explain what "First Strike" means

Don't despair, I despise all the other special labels just as much as first strike.

It's worth keeping in mind that collectors aren't the TPGs' customers, dealers are. I can't blame the TPGs too much for marketing the products their customers want, but I wish they'd keep in mind that their mission should also involve acting in the best interests of collectors. If they fail to do that, they might find the well has been poisoned. This is part of why I am such a big supporter of CAC...

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I never get near anything in slabs (though that may change about Morgan dollars).

My collection is chaotic, eclectic and erratic...and increasingly in AirTites.

But this thread has been an interesting revelation; I'm grateful to be able to 'listen' to this kind of give and take.

Thanks, all of you!

 

How many pre-1965 slabs have a 70 grade Doug? How many slabs before they started slabbing moderns have ever achieved a 70? Someone listing a 70 value in a catalog for a 1893 S does not mean they ever thought one existed.

I am well aware of Dr Sheldon's invention and its history and intended use. We are far, far from that point.

 

I do appreciate your input Doug. I am sure I am just misremembering. I thought back in the 80's anything over a 65 was worthy of a press release it was so rare. I still recall CW articles on a MS66 large cent, and how everyone was praising how its such a rare, rare item to be judged as high as MS66.

 

The best interests of collectors should be what I say they are, obviously

In all honesty, I do think the proliferation of special labels is bad for the hobby. While there are a lot of collectors who would probably disagree with that, eventually I think people will realize that paying extra money for a worthless piece of paper is a bad idea, and it's going to push collectors away from the hobby.

There's always room for improvement. We should be working to make collecting more accessible. Particularly for higher value coins, we should strive to make it easier to identify the good coins, we should work toward more transparent pricing, and we should eliminate problem coins from the market. I think the TPGs have done and continue to do a lot to work toward these goals, but they could do better. Special labels, slabbing MS70 moderns, etc counteract this mission in my opinion. Those are marketing gimmicks that only serve the bottom lines of the TPGs and the dealers.

I agree that CAC is profit driven, as any business should be. They also are obviously appealing to dealers, since CAC stickered coins may carry a premium. But I think they provide a useful service to collectors inasmuch as they help further the vision I outlined above.

 

Quick definition: The first coin out of the hopper held in the fingers of some Mint official or Pol, usually in gloved hands, with their mug in Coin World.

 

Others have already replied to your question with essentially the same answer, but personally I always prefer an answer from an authoritative source on the subject.

The following is from American Silver Eagles: A Guide to the U.S. Bullion Coin Program. (2012, Whitman Publishing LLC: Atlanta, GA). It was co-written by John M. Mercanti, former chief engraver of the U.S. Mint, and Michael Standish, the first full-time coin grader at PCGS and currently the firm’s senior grader and vice president of business development. I believe that Standish wrote the following excerpts. At the beginning of Chapter 3: Coin-by-Coin Study of American Silver Eagles (Kindle location 1007) he explains:

A note about First Strikes: Since 2005, PCGS has designated American Silver Eagles packaged and delivered by the U.S. Mint in the first 30 days since the initial sales date as First Strike. If a particular American Silver Eagle goes on sale January 1, any coin packaged or delivered and submitted to PCGS for certification between January 1 and January 31 qualifies for this designation. PCGS verifies a coin was shipped from the Mint within the first 30 days either a) if the coin is shipped to PCGS from the customer with a postmarked date prior to the 30-day cutoff date; or b) if the customer does not open the sealed package that came from the Mint, and the PCGS confirms that it has an appropriate postmarked date.

Later in the chapter, in the section about the 2006-W Proof (Kindle location 1663):

Coin World associate editor Steve Roach used the 2006-W Proof as an example in an article about First Strike coins. “By virtue of population numbers alone, early release coins generally are not scarcer than their later-issued brethren,” he noted. “Take for example the Proof 2006-W American Eagle silver dollar. As of mid-June, PCGS graded 7,285 examples under its normal program and 7,716 pieces under its First Strike program. The early release programs take into account only when a coin was shipped from the U.S. Mint, not when it was minted. The programs were first developed by the grading services in 2005. The ‘First Strikes’ are visually imperceptible from their later-released counterparts” [Coin World, “First Strikes, Early Releases: Buyers Should Do Homework,” August 1, 2011]

I think that the first excerpt pretty much sums up what “First Strike” is, and the fact that PCGS’ Standish would voluntarily quote Roach’s article explaining the worthlessness of it for collectors should be pretty illustrative.

 

On selling Reverse Proof Buffalos, would you rather have the money for:
1. Reverse Proof Buffalo FS
2. Reverse Proof Buffalo No FS

 

they are only worth what someone will pay for it and i for one would never buy one that had FS in the first place. i would rather have the $400,000,000 for the powerball!

 

You didn't answer the question.

 

So would you take an inferior coin rather than one in a First Strike slab?

 

It sounds like you still are under the impression that a first strike coin is always superior
to a non first strike coin?
Son, put down the coolaide, back away from the table and go back and reread the first page in this thread. Pay particular attention to posts #2, 4, 8 and 18.

 

Doug, I ask my question first and you haven't answered it either.

 

Please explain what "First Strike" means?

Easy: A BS marketing ploy.