Early Releases vs. First Day of Issue - Opinions Sought!

Once upon a time, when Early Releases or First Strikes were young and new, they seemed desirable to many collectors. Other collectors may not have cared, understandable.

The prevalence of such coins, however, often left a collector with the choice of buying a coin with no designation or selecting an Early Released, First Releases, First Strikes coin for the same price. I can't speak for other collectors, but when the two were side by side, and the same price, I took the ER (or other) designation. It's worth noting that in the NGC Registry Sets, there was NEVER any point premium from NGC for any such designation, only the coin grade itself, that is what matters after all.

Now, the newer thing is "First Day of Issue" which is something that was previously never offered by NGC, nor I believe PCGS and was limited to ANACS, ICG, or other 3rd, 4th or lesser tier TPG services. Now that NGC is offering it, the question becomes: Is there anything MORE desirable from "First Day of Issue" (FDOI) compared to Early Releases, First Releases, First Strikes or those older and more familiar designations from NGC or PCGS?

Secondarily, if FDOI is more desirable, why?

Along the same lines, is the FDOI something that you would select OVER the OTHER designations, but ONLY for the same price?

Similarly, would you select the FDOI designation over a PLAIN/NO designation for the same price?

The BIG QUESTION: Would you pay more for a FDOI designated coin compared to a plain coin? How about compared to a coin designated Early Releases, First Releases, etc.? If you would pay more, how much? For example, on a $35 coin, would you pay $40 or about a 15% premium? How about an example where the Early Releases coin was $34.95 and the First Day of Issue coin is $35.95, just $1.00 more, or about a 3% premium? Feel free to try some other pricing examples for yourself to craft your own reply. The higher value of the coin, the more significant the price difference might be.

For the record, I am not trying to start a war here. I am, however, very curious about the opinion of my fellow collectors, investors, and collector-investors, because I was purchasing some coins, and I faced these questions, particularly the FDOI dilemma, and I found myself hesitant which caught me by surprise.

Historically, I have always been of the mindset that one should by the coin, not the holder. The holder matters, of course, insofar as the grade of the coin, and the reputation of the Third Party Grading (TPG) company. One wonders if, down the line if ever selling a coin, will a holder matter to a potential buyer and if so, will it make a difference in the selling price? I submit that it should not, but in the real world, I pose the question, DOES IT?

Let me close by saying that for today, on my birthday no less and after a several year self-imposed absence from the Collector Society, I absolutely and 100% will NOT be addressing the issue of "fashion" or otherwise "specialty" labels on slabbed coins, whether they have flags, photos, images of the very coin they hold, signatures of FORMER or current U.S. Mint directors, different color schemes, holders with different cores, etc. I learned more than a few years ago that the topic of "labels" is fraught with strife. I fear even the question I posed about the FDOI designation may be controversial, so I beg my fellow members that if there are differences of opinion, PLEASE let the discourse be civil, that is my birthday wish for the Collectors Society.

Mike B.

P.S. Here is a throwback to 1999, the first year of the State Quarters program, but curiously not issued by the U.S. Mint. Instead, here we have an Australian Kookaburra silver bullion coin with a U.S. State Quarter Privy Mark for Connecticut (my home state), featuring the image of CT's state quarter, the famous and historic Charter Oak. Tell me it's not JUST as cool in the plain old-fashioned brown NGC label? Tell the truth now.

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