there are 2 sets of PCGS 2006 silver eagle anniversary set out there graded by pcgs. one with the FIRST STRIKE designation and one with out? who determintes FIRST STRIKE? is the first x many that send in coins? also, should the FIRST STRIKES be going for more or the same as the non first strike coins?
MR2005, welcome to CT. I hope you stick around. There is a lot of great info on here. To answer your question, the First Strike designation should not increase a coins value. The Frist Strike Issue is a third party creation to generate a greater interest/demand for a coin which some dealers than falsely increase the value for the coin. Typically, a third party determines the first strike designation based on the date that your package left the US mints warehouse. There are usually restrictions as to if your coin qualifies for the first strike designation. One of these usually requires you NOT to open the original package and send you package directly to them. Another one as stated usually requires a date time line. The US mint has even stated on their website that the designation "first strike" doesn't really exist. They do not keep track of what coins are minted first as all coins are usually lumped together in large groups or hoppers. The only real way to determine a "first strike" is if you are physically standing there picking out the first coins struck. I have never bought into the "First strike" or "Early Strike" designations since they were created solely to falsely create demand and therefore falsely increase the value of a coin. I wouldn't pay anything more for these coins and neither should you. Good luck.
Here is the statement released by the US mint referring to "first strike" designations. "First Strike" The United States Mint has received inquiries from consumers regarding use of the term "first strike." The term has appeared in connection with the advertising and grading of 2005 and 2006 silver, gold, and platinum proof and bullion American Eagle Coins, and the new 2006 24-karat proof and bullion American Buffalo Gold Coins. Currently, there is no widely-accepted and standardized numismatic industry definition of "first strike." Coin dealers and grading services may use this term in varying ways. Some base its use on dates appearing on United States Mint product packaging or packing slips, or on the dates of product releases or ceremonial coin strike events. Consumers should carefully review the following information along with each dealer’s or grading service’s definition of "first strike" when considering a purchase of coins with this designation. The United States Mint has not designated any 2005 or 2006 American Eagle Coins or 2006 American Buffalo Coins as "first strikes," nor do we track the order in which we mint such coins during their production. The United States Mint held a launch ceremony for the 2006 American Buffalo Gold Coin on June 20, 2006, two days before its release on June 22, at which two proof coins and two uncirculated coins were ceremonially struck. However, those coins were not individually identified and were put in regular inventory after the ceremony. The United States Mint did not hold any striking ceremonies for the 2005 or 2006 American Eagle Coins. The United States Mint strives to produce coins of consistently high quality throughout the course of production. Our strict quality controls assure that coins of this caliber are produced from each die set throughout its useful life. Our manufacturing facilities use a die set as long as the quality of resulting coins meets United States Mint standards, and then replace the dies, continually changing sets throughout the production process. For bullion American Eagle and American Buffalo Coins, the United States Mint makes an average of about 6,000 coins from one die set. For proof versions of the 2006 American Buffalo Coins, the yield is an average of about 1,500 coins per die set. For proof versions of the American Eagle Coins, the yield is an average of about 300-500 coins per die set. This means that coins may be minted from new die sets at any point and at multiple times while production of a coin is ongoing, not just the first day or at the beginning of production. To put this in context, in 2005 the United States Mint produced approximately 356,500 one-ounce gold, 8,891,000 silver, and 6,300 one-ounce platinum American Eagle Bullion Coins. American Eagle and American Buffalo Coins are not individually numbered and the United States Mint does not keep track of the order or date of minting of individual bullion or proof coins. The United States Mint begins production several weeks before these coins are scheduled to be released. By the release dates for 2005 and 2006 bullion coins, the United States Mint had already minted approximately 50% of the projected sales numbers for these coins. Any dates on shipping boxes containing uncirculated bullion coins sent to Authorized Purchasers are strictly for quality control and accounting purposes at the United States Mint at West Point. The date on the box represents the date that the box was packed, verified as 500 ounces and sealed, and the date of packaging does not necessarily correlate with the date of manufacture. The date on shipping labels and packing slips for proof coins, which are sent directly to United States Mint customers from our fulfillment center, is the date the item was packed and shipped by the fulfillment center. The other numbers on the shipping label and packing slip are used to track the order and for quality control.
In the case of the 1st Strike Designation on the 1986 ASEs it was strictly done by whether or not they arrived at the TPG in a sealed (unopened) box from the Mint. Any packages that were opened by the customers were not considered for the First strike designation.
There has been at least one class action lawsuit filed regarding the term by TPGs. I know that NGC uses the term now "Early Release" instead of "First Strike". If you will type "first strike coins" in your search engine it will answer every question you have. There are a good number of articles regarding this.
Mike, you mean 2006 right? Not 1986. And the TPGs still have the same qualifications as you mention above, except that there usually is a date limit. For example, if a coin is produced and ships between the designated date to the customer, which for this example we will use 1/1/09-3/1/09, and that coin is sent to the third party grader within this time period it will qualify - if a coin was shipped after 3/1/09 to the customer, it would not quilify for the "first strike" or "early strike" designation. The key being the date it was shipped to the customer. I have seen people submit coins to TPGs months after they had recieved the coin, as long as the box was unopened and the date on the box was within the time limit, and still qualify for the early strike designation. I also believe that many TPGs will even have their own time limits as to when they receive the coins as whether or not they will qualify. Here is PCGS's qualifications... http://www.pcgs.com/firststrike/ Here is NGC's qualifications.... http://www.ngccoin.com/services/earlyrelease.asp
