Why is there no PCGS Pop Report for 2015 $1 Eisenhower C&C reverse proof? And why is the Kennedy $1 R/P PR70 First Strike "worth" $1200 but the Kennedy PR70 non-First Strike is only worth $400? Wouldn't all of them by definition be "First Strike"? Odd...
I simply do not understand First Strike. I have had it explained to me and my reaction was, and still is, so what?
Then you understood. "First Strike" coins are Marshmallow Fluff in the meat-eating world of numismatics, an invention of the TPG's with as much numismatic gravitas as a subway token.
First Day of Issue is a big deal with stamp collectors. The coin biz, I suppose, got the idea from that. It's not a Mint designation and the Mint has gone to lengths to explain that. The TV coin salesmen love them. Some outfit they use called IGS apparently will slab just about everything with the designation -- and I have yet to see any grade other than MS70 or PR70 from them.
So the question remains, if all the coins sold out in 30 days, would they not all be first strike? The pop report shows more 70's in FS than non-FS, so technically the non-FS is more rare, yet "worth" 1/3.
No, not if you didn't send them in to them within the first 30 days. When the coins were actually struck is of no importance, it is when the TPG received them that counts. If they receive it on day 30 it's a first strike and worth $1200. If they get it on day 31 it isn't a first strike and is worth $400. (Do you REALLY want to spend an extra $800 on that basis?)
Neither coin is worth more than $50 bucks. They are just looking for suckers to pay that kind of money.
So only only thing left to do is spend some more $ and send it into CAC for the real wow factor. A sticker! That way you now have a coin that's first strike in a 70 grade that no one in their right mind I'd going to give you the money for. Reason no one is going to pay you for a coin that is book value at a inflated amount,when they can buy a 69 for hundreds less!
But they DO accept Eisenhower dollars. I've seen a few NGCs that would come back so covered in black beans you'd have to weight the slab/coin to see what coin is in it. Having said that, I'm a big Ike fan and have a 69 and 70 RP $1. As you can probably guess I can't tell the difference, however I don't have a microscope. There may be differences that escape my eye's 1x magnification. With the limited production would the 70 be worth a lot more than the 69 to presidential dollar collectors or the registry folks?
From what I have seen from casual observation, the difference (at least in the asking price} between 69 and 70 can be substantial. But since I don't collect Ikes, someone else would have to speak on whether the value.
