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 Replies: 13 / Views: 1,863 |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1700 Posts |
Happy New Year! I recently discovered the term "first strike" on ebay. This morning, under some curiosity, I did some research. Before this aforemetioned research this morning, I thought that first strike meant "more details" or "minted from a fresher, newer die" or "minted in a certain ceremony". But this article http://coins.about.com/od/coingradi...trike_co.htmMakes these coins sound absurd. What are your opinions? Please educate me. If I have a three coin set of Denali NP shipped from the Mint only a week after purchase, and I send these coins to PCGS a year thereafter, how will they recognize the first strike feature of these three coins? |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts |
"First Strike" is just a marketing term related to a coin being slabbed within the first 30 days of issue. It has nothing to do with strike quality or die state and basically amounts to a worthless term.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2661 Posts |
Quote:
If I have a three coin set of Denali NP shipped from the Mint only a week after purchase, and I send these coins to PCGS a year thereafter, how will they recognize the first strike feature of these three coins? They will not. It is my understanding that if you get the coins to the grading service within the first 30 days of issue you can have the "First Strike" designation put on the holder. It is nothing more than a marketing gimmick that falsely raises the perceived value of the coin, and only the foolish fall for it. |
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
Petersun, you used the most accurate term yourself - "absurd." It cannot be improved upon. In most cases, the entire mintage has been finished before the first coin is placed in a "First Strike" slab.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4901 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
 Canada
1700 Posts |
Now I see that the First Strike label is also a way for TPGs to earn money for themselves. it attracts coin collectors to send coins to them just to get the label.
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Pillar of the Community
Russian Federation
5172 Posts |
I have, in my collection, a 2009-(P) LP4 cent I got from my uncle when he visited Moscow in early December 2009... well within 30 days from official release. It's a cool coin to have. It's very beautifully detailed. It's also awfully spotty, and I think there's even a fingerprint (not that either is a strike problem, of course) First strike? No way. Not even close. No reason it should be either. But had it been a more official product, it would've probably been eligible. And this, not anything about coins struck in advance (though probably that too), is why this designation is absurd.  (Okay; a "first day of release" designation (whatever the actual strike time) makes sense - it's pretty much the coin equivalent of stamp first day covers. A "first month" one is just plainly absurd - but even then I'd be willing to accept it if at least it officially had that name!) |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1700 Posts |
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the entire mintage has been finished before the first coin is placed in a "First Strike" slab That's good. Now I know that "First Strike" doesn't necessarily signify "more deatails" on a coin. |
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Sometimes the whole mintage has been finished sometimes not but yea it doesn't mean more detail especially on moderns. Its not like you could get a more perfect 70. The vast majority of those get the label from the bulk submissions where it doesn't cost much and gives an extra selling point that some people do like, personally I dont care about the first strike but do like some of the special labels they get.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4901 Posts |
NGC has a more appropriate designation "Early Release" which means the coin was released from the Mint within the first 30 days of availability. No strike assumptions are made....again it doesn't mean it's a different coin but at least the label is more appropriate.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2734 Posts |
Dies are replaced throughout a coin's striking period. A coin made on the last day of production could be a true "first strike" from a previously unused die pair.
"Early Release" is also more appropriate in that the first coins struck are not necessarily the first coins released from the Mint.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10982 Posts |
First Strike labeled coins can be slabbed at any time. You could have a 10 year old package from the U.S. Mint and, if dated appropriately, is eligible for First Strike designation. When the coins are submitted only matters if they have been removed from packaging. My nephew has put boxes of ASE away for years and all are "First Strike" eligible if and when someone wants to submit them. The ridiculous thing is the $18 fee per label. I can understand a small upcharge but $18 per coin is excessive. Thing is the coin markets consistently pay premiums for First Strike labeled coins. I agree it's nuts. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1700 Posts |
You mean the shipment packaging? $18 is evidently fulsome. The thing is, the price is high because there is still market for it: the price of these "first strike" coins on ebay are usually higher than the ones without. |
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
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You mean the shipment packaging? Yea, as long as the package from the mint is unopened it can still get the designation |
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Replies: 13 / Views: 1,863 |
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Posted 01/01/2013 1:56 pm
