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PCGS's New "First Strike" Designation

Started by Beijim,

18 posts in this topic

Beijim

Beijim

Posted
Posted

sign-rantpost.gif

Now I've seen everything. PCGS is encapsulating 2005 Gold Eagles with a "First Strike" designation on the insert. What, did they send a representative to the West Point Mint facility who stood there as the very first coins came off the line this past fall? And then that same representative watched as they placed those exact coins in a box whose number the representative noted and reserved? And then the PCGS representative appeared at the Mint bright and early on January 3 to take physical delivery of that specific box? Give me a frigging break.

 

If this isn't the most bogus bunch of horsepuckey I've ever seen, I don't know what is.

 

frustrated.gif

Beijim

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Ed Daggett

Ed Daggett

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I had seen the same designation used by PCI on bullion coins. I had the same concerns, but assumed it was a case of a wanna be trying to gain attention.

 

I cannot ascribe the same reasoning to PCGS conduct, can I?

 

Ed

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cpm9ball

cpm9ball

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It looks to me like they have taken a cue from HSN and/or QVC using a "come-on" to entice unknowing buyers. ICG has been doing this, too!

 

Chris

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braddick

braddick

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Posted
I had seen the same designation used by PCI on bullion coins. I had the same concerns, but assumed it was a case of a wanna be trying to gain attention.

 

I cannot ascribe the same reasoning to PCGS conduct, can I?

 

Ed

Good point. At least PCI had the common sense to limit the "First Stike" designation to the first 1,000 they graded (and printed as such on their insert).

With PCGS, who knows how many will receive the First Strike accolade? screwy.gif

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Beijim

Beijim

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Thank you all for your responses! If (as Truth speculates) this accolade (thank you, Braddick) is intended to apply to the first N examples PCGS grades, then the accolade's designation should be "First Graded" or even "First N Graded". Some people might actually care about such a designation, though why I have no idea.

 

The terms "first strike" and "first struck" actually have meaning (either literally the first few coins struck by fresh dies, or the first group of coins struck in the production run of a particular coin). Either way, I can't see how this term has any such import (and therefore any value beyond bloated hyperbole) in the context of the PCGS graded examples. Unless I'm missing something (and it's possible screwy.gif), you don't get to stand at the United States Mint loading dock and select the specific monster boxes you receive. You get what you get.

 

In the case of Silver Eagles at least, the initial production volume is so large that I can't understand how you can possibly designate coins shipped on January 3 as "first strike." Consider how this may work physically. The Mint begins producing the 2005 coins shortly after Labor Day 2004. The literal "first strike" coins get packaged into green monster boxes, numbered, and placed into a storage facility. Then more monster boxes are filled and placed in the storage facility. Finally, January 3, 2005 rolls around. The Mint guy enters the storage facility and pulls out 100 monster boxes for Joe Bloe, one of the six or seven primary distributors to whom the Mint sells directly. The point? Joe Bloe's "first strike" boxes are actually the last coins produced before January 3. In other words, if the Mint storage and distribution process is LIFO (last in, first out), then all bets are off unless you actually receive monster boxes with really low numbers, AND the Mint's numbering scheme goes from low to high.

 

This whole thing is basically academic, but I do find it interesting in a Trivial Pursuit sort of way.

 

Strike on, makepoint.gif

Beijim

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Hoot

Hoot

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I rarely get to see the Coin Vault on QVC (or whatever) but I happendd to recently when they were hyping "first strike" coins to be graded and designated as such by ICG. These were coins shipped in a big plastic container holding many rolls that were being hyped as "first off the coin presses" for the year for bullion coins from the U.S. Mint. They did not clarify. I thought it was an awful and deceptive market ploy.

 

Hoot

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Beijim

Beijim

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This from an upcoming TeleTrade auction listing:

 

2005 First Strike Silver Eagle PCGS 69

Full satin-like mint luster. Well struck. Pleasing surfaces. This coin is certified as being one of the first struck for 2005. PCGS has certified 12,274 coins with this designation.

 

12,274 coins.

 

Translation: This designation is utterly meaningless. Caveat emptor.

 

screwy.gif

Beijim

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Leothelion

Leothelion

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First strike designation? I started my own personal "First strike" collecting habit back in 1995, As many of you already know, it's taking awhile for everyone to catch on. But for Pcgs to come up with this marketing idea, you might call it a blind milestone selling tactic of some sort. The first strike designation is a bunch of BS since I've been knocking on these TGS for years to get their acts together with full struck coins and now this!

 

HELLO!!! Gagging

 

Leo

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Ikemann1-migration

Ikemann1-migration

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Californee is da place you wanna bee!!!! A new meaning to to the word HYPE for sure! I would like to meet the guys who put these marketing strategies together and womp um up side the head three times with a bag of 1960 Franklin halves and see if they would be interested in slabbing them as 3rd strike coins, just a thought.

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Beijim

Beijim

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I would like to meet the guys who put these marketing strategies together and womp um up side the head three times with a bag of 1960 Franklin halves and see if they would be interested in slabbing them as 3rd strike coins, just a thought.

sign-funnypost.gif

 

Heh heh, third strike coins. Very good. And with a bag o' Frankies as your bat, they'd definitely be out in three.

 

Beijim

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Leothelion

Leothelion

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I would like to meet the guys who put these marketing strategies together and womp um up side the head three times with a bag of 1960 Franklin halves and see if they would be interested in slabbing them as 3rd strike coins, just a thought.

sign-funnypost.gif

 

Heh heh, third strike coins. Very good. And with a bag o' Frankies as your bat, they'd definitely be out in three.

 

Beijim

 

Too Funny

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