Am i the only one that thinks labels such as first strike are a scam?

Light marketing = professional Too much martini shaking could lead to a wet floor, and no drinky.

 

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There wasn't a market for this dreck until the powers that be at PCGS and later NGC started promoting it.
And spare me your ad hominem attacks

 

Sorry, any thread about PCGS and you :dead-horse: about how you hate them or loathe their management.

 

It's like taking money out of PCGS's pocket. They provide the service and provide innovative products at the request of consumers. It's like telling Toyota to stop making the Prius because its an automotive gimmick. People love them and pay more money for what the product does, its ingenious.

 

So what? You're free to not read my posts, are you not?

 

That is what I thought too, but let me clarify for others. "Customer" of PCGS meaning a tv show or similar marketer, not an end customer in my estimation. Its basically the coin equivalent of "First Day of Issue" covers from postage stamps. Thank God someone hasn't thought up having "rookie" coins, and having a fake sense of rarity based upon it being the first year of issue. Oh dang, I wonder if I just gave them another bad idea to steal.

Edit: Btw, before anyone bashes me for hating PCGS, I own stock. I do not collect slabs, but I never said it was a bad business model.

 

http://coins.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=1138&lotIdNo=38002


The fact remains that the FS and ER designation has nothing to do with when the "coin" was struck. Look this up and you will see what I mean. As for PCGS slabbing nuggets - as with FS/ER labels - its nothing more than profit margins and the novelty. There are certain people who will buy anything as long as a TPG says its good. How about so-called "shipwreck" coins not being gennied? Oh, that's right.. they were "conserved" and not cleaned. Why? Because a TPG says so and therefore people will buy such things.

 

That's pretty neat...

 

Not exactly. A First Strike is the first coin struck by a new pair of dies. If 100 pairs of dies were used to strike the coins in a particular year there would be 100 First Strikes. If 500 pairs of dies were used there would be 500 First Strikes.

 

I believe the 2011 25th anniversary silver eagle set and the new five-ounce silver "pucks" have brought the "first strike" labeling and slabbing in general into a whole new level or "numis-mania."

What is probably worse are the people who do not open the sealed boxes from the US Mint. Although it is up to the collector to choose if they want to buy this type of material, and they are welcome to it, I have no desire to purchase anything in a slab or slab a coin and yes, I opened my boxes, found damaged packaging and had the Mint replace it.

 

Just to clarify things.... "First Strike" and/or "Early Release" has absolutely NOTHING to do with when the coin was minted. It does not matter - nor is it known by either TPG - exactly when the coin they are using this designation for was actually minted in relation to the individual die pair used to produce the coin. To get this designation, the box shipped from the US Mint must be dated within a certain period of time. Therefore, a coin residing in a FS/ER holder has as an equal chance of being one of the last strikes (in the die life) as being part of the first or early.

 

The 20th anniversary might but not the 25th. They had to be RECEIVED by the TPG by I believe it was Nov 8th to qualify for FS. The sealed box still qualifies for the 25th anniversary label but not the FS.

 

It really should read First Slabbed. I need to open a slab grading company. Now imagine a PF70 Silver Eagle in a perfectly clear SB70 holder.

 

Can you say "baseballcardization"?

 

Not to mention the moribund hobby of stamp collecting!