First release question

[JIM F.]

I ordered my Reverse Buffalo Proofs on the first day available -- however they are being shipped later this week.

 

Does this make them ineligible for a first release? If so, it's too bad, since it seems to me that date ordered should be considered rather than date shipped.

 

 

[Proudtoown]

I'm not knowledgeable about what constitutes a first release label being given to a coin, but I am with logistics. So, I guess to help answer your question, what if on the date ordered they had 100,000 orders to fill and you just happen to be that number 100,000 on the list, but they only had 50,000 minted. The first 50,000 would go first and get the "first release" label. Maybe it took them a day or two to "mint" yours, so yours would be in batch number 2. I dont know, just my guess coming from a logistics background.

[Mr.Mcknowitall]

Maybe the first 50,000 wouldn't. What if the first 50,000 minted were not shipped until the next run?

 

What if there was a change in dies?

 

It seeems to me that a first release (and I am curious what that term really means-other than a TPG business plan) could be the date that the coins are available to the public, or the coins made in the first run/shift, or the coins made until the die is changed, or the first day the coin is actually sold (which is not always the same as the same day it is available to the public).

 

The OP question is a darn good one, and if presented in a numismatic context, rather than a marketing context, might yield a different criteria and a different set of answers.

 

I guess the only answer that really matters is the criteria that the entity offering the label establishes.

[bochiman]

The TPGs give the criteria for their special labels.

To wish outside of that criteria is just that...wishing.

 

I have been bitten by it before as well, but it is "part of the game".

If the label is to mean anything (which, it really doesn't/shouldn't), then they can't be bending that.

 

In this case, they state that "First Release" means out and in their hands by a certain date. So, that is what it is. If the mint delay bites you, then that is the issue with the mint and when you ordered...not NGCs.

[mmissinglink]

My opinion on "First Release", "First Strike", "Early Release" or any such TPG term is that it's more or less a sales gimmick.

 

These terms, whether stated or not by the TPG company, is meant to suggest or evoke the notion that any slabbed coin bearing these words on the label are coins that were the initial or very first coins of that particular type to be actually minted. But what is seldom or never mentioned is that from a practical vantage it's virtually impossible for the TPG graders to know which coins were actually minted first and further, from a logistical vantage, it's more than probable that the vast majority of mass produced coins shipped out earliest by a mint like the US Mint are coins that were not minted first. That's because in all likelihood, the coins that were actually minted first go on the shelves first and all subsequently minted coins are stacked on top until, perhaps months later, the coins are released for sale. By this time, depending on the type of coin, there may be many thousands of boxes of coins placed on top of the boxes holding the coins that first came off the minting machinery.

 

I have never worked in a large mint like the US Mint to know this is a fact but from a logical standpoint, this is my conclusion.

 

If anyone knows impirically (because you have first hand knowledge of how coin orders in the US Mint or any major mint are stacked and pulled for orders) that what i have surmised is completely wrong, please come forward and present your evidence. I am genuinely interested in knowing the actual facts of this process.

 

Thanks in advance for any light you may be able to shed on this.

[leeg]

NGC offers the First Releases designation for selected coins received by NGC or an NGC-approved depository during the first 30 days* of release. The term FIRST RELEASES will be noted as part of the description on the special blue First Releases label. Other special and series-specific labels available from NGC may also be used in combination with the First Releases designation.

 

To qualify for First Releases, all coins must generally be received by NGC or an NGC-approved depository within 30 days* of their release. Coins being sent directly to NGC do not need to be accompanied by original packaging or shipped in sealed Mint boxes, but must arrive within the time period described above. The First Releases request must be noted on the submission invoice, and additional service fees apply for the special label and designation verification.

 

*In rare instances, production or shipping delays at the US Mint or other mints may require that NGC extend the First Releases period. The cutoff date will be reflected on the NGC website.

[MorganMan]

I know this will be unpopular, but all this "first" stuff is just cluttering up the print on the slabs.

 

It means nothing, and is a marketing gimmick.

 

There, off my soap box now.

 

MM