I love the Silver Eagle coin. I have a few but none of them are the "First Strike" designated by PCGS. Two questions: 1) Does the "First Strike" designation go all the way back to the very first year the Eagles were minted? and, 2) If so, are there any years that are unobtainable as far as price goes. I am seriously considering starting a collection and would like to have a complete set, but if there is one year that is too expensive ($75 or higher), I won't even start. Thank you.
The "First Strike" designation is a marketing gimmick. There are hundreds of dies used to strike SEs each year. A "first strike" from a new die could just as easlily come in December as in January, and that slabbed "first strike" from Januray could well be the last coin made from a worn out die.
Robert - read this thread - CLICK HERE But to answer your question - no they did not use the first strike designation on older dates. The TPGs only came up with this "first strike" designation a couple of years ago. Now you may find it an amazing coincidence, but PCGS came up with this idea ( and they were soon followed by all the others ) at almost exactly the same time that prices for the slabbed AGE, ASE & APE dropped by 50% or more. Because of the drop in prices, submissions of these coins to the TPGs for slabbing slowed waaaaaaaay down. The TPGs needed a way to boost submissions - so they came up the "frist strike" designation. And guess what - it worked As to your second question, there are some dates of the ASE that do approach $75 if slabbed as MS69 even without the the first strike designation.
I guess you know this sounds to me a little like what is done in the fuel market these days. Only there it's called "price fixing" and there a law against those type of dealings. Forget about this so called 'first strike' balloney and consider the coin itself. that is what you are collecting and not the slabs that have interesting notations written on them.:thumb:
So much knowledge on this site. Thank you so much for the info. I'm more than likely going to get a nice Eagle from each year and not worry about slabs or notations. Great info, thx again-Robert
Howdy Robert. I my self started collecting with the Silver Eagles.Best looking coin out there besides the Walker Half.I noticed in your first post you said you wanted to keep the price under $75.I hate to tell ya but you may find that hard on a few dates if your going graded PCGS.The highest date is the 1996,look to pay over $100 for this very key date in ms 69 from PCGS.Seems most were grabbed up as bullion and havent seen the light of day yet. I for the most part get mine off ebay but from just a very few sellers I trust.If you look long enough you can find some good deals on off dates.Also try Teletrade,they have some just not many.Also try looking in your area for shops just check around and get it for the best price you can.
WOW--ASE must be going up....I've been buying at least one a year in a NGC MS69 for under $25....then most of the ones for my set are higher grade raw coins and then have been bought for under $20...most of them under $12. Speedy
Actually they've gone down quite a bit from their previous highs. At one point the '96 ASE PCGS MS69 was selling for as much as $150 - $175. But you can find them on ebay now for about $70. You can get them at coin shows for less than $50. Raw - they are about $20 I think.
Speedy your right you can get NGC MS69 for a lot less than PCGS ones but for the past year PCGS is the hot company for SAE's as far as getting the most for the coin.The difference in price between the 2 is rather large on the key dates.IE 1990 SAE PCGS price near $100,NGC price round $25 to 30.Thank goodness I have a show coming up soon and plan on getting the few dates I need then.Sadly for me I still need most of the key dates.LOL :headbang: Would yall say this is market value or dumb collectors.I kinda say its market value,someone was willing to pay the price even if it was more than I would have paid. I still have much to learn in pricing these blasted things.
MARS - The reason the price has been dropping, and likely will continue to do so, is because there have been so many of them slabbed now. The numbers for the PCGS MS69 coins are HUGE !! And as the numbers of them increase the price drops. If you really like the coin- get an NGC example for a fraction of the cost and limit your downside risk. The coins are just as nice.
I was watching HSN and CSN coin shows last night and saw that NGC and ANACS both are slabbing coins labeled "first strikes"as Roy stated earlier.In the case of ANACS,it is in bright red on the ugly (IMHO) new holders.Isn't this a bit misleading if you consider that they have no way to actually tell how many coins were struck on a particular die?
My understanding of "First Strike" is that the TPG services have a way to verify the check slip that accompanies the monster box and can tell that it was or was not struck on the first day. That is the response that NGC and PCGS have given to their "First Strike" claim. I just hope that the Mint is getting a premium for the first issued coins.
I think PCGS and NGC will put First strike on any coin that comes in the month of JAN....at least that is how I heard it. Speedy
Yep bad for sellers,but good for me.Been looking at opening a metal Roth IRA and the lower silver goes the more I can buy. Now if gold will just go over $600 an oz I will sell off my small collection for even more silver.HAHAHAHA
I do the same thing, only I use a crystal ball! Now I'm sure you believe this one also, don't you?:kewl:
What they are verifying on the slip is a shipping date on or before Jan 31st - that's all they require to label the coin as a first strike.
