Question: What Does First Day of Issue Mean?

[alloway65 10]

Question: What Does First Day of Issue Mean? An Extract from a News Letter.

 

First Day of Issue is a PCGS grading service designation that is extremely misleading (if not downright fraudulent). The average collector might assume that a coin in a PCGS holder that says "First Day of Issue" was issued on the first day the coins were available, but this is not the case. Answer: According to the PCGS submission guidelines for the First Day of Issue designation, a circulating commemorative coin (such as a Presidential Dollar) can be submitted at any time in the future, even decades from now, as long as it is in a Mint-sealed bank box with a date of issue on, or prior to the official release date for the coin type. Meeting this requirement, the coins in that sealed box can get the PCGS First Day of Issue designation on the holder. The problem with this requirement is that virtually all circulating commemorative coins are packaged in bank boxes with dates on, or prior to, the official release date! After all, long before the coins can be issued to the public, they must be struck, counted, wrapped, boxed, shipped to the Federal Reserve, and then distributed to the banks. Since all of these events must occur before the coin's release date, virtually all coins with short release periods (which includes all circulating commemoratives) are in boxes with dates on, or prior to, release! This is one of those "DUH" things that are clearly abusive and misleading, especially when there is no deadline for submission. After all, why should PCGS bulk submitters have to risk tying up their own money in First Day of Issue inventory when they can get this designation anytime in the future? They merely stockpile some sealed boxes and wait a few years to see how the market develops. In the best case, they submit a sealed box a few years from now and cash in at the poor, naive TV shopping show coin buyer's expense. At worst, the market doesn't develop and all those sealed boxes of coins can simply be spent or sold to dealers raw. If PCGS was smart, it would end this abuse by requiring dealers to submit coins in a timely manner, on the actual first day of issue, which would increase their revenue now, and put the onus of risk onto the dealers. This practice would also serve to remove a very misleading designation from our coin collecting marketplace, because First Day of Issue would really mean what it says then. Value of First Day of Issue Coins Although the coin dealers who sell them charge a premium for the First Day of Issue designation, these coins have virtually no secondary market premium at all. In other words, you'll pay a lot extra to get a coin designated "First Day of Issue," but when you go to sell it, this fact will not help its value; you'll get much less than you paid for the coin. The reason is that experienced dealers know the designation is all but meaningless, and so do experienced collectors. First Day of Issue coins are a very poor investment and I recommend that you never buy them.

[jwither 11]

It is a marketing gimmick. In addition to this one, there are or at least have been "First Strikes". Why would anyone care when a coin was struck? The coin is what it is and the addition of "official" designations is irrelevant, espcially for one that is as common as the sand on the beach.

 

Even with coins that are actually scarce, sometimes collectors will encounter this nonsense. The current record price for a coin is with the 1794 US silver dollar graded PCGS SP-66. It sold for $7.85MM USD. In one write-up, the dealer rationalized the price by claiming that it was likely the first US silver dollar ever struck. Even if this is true, the correct response to that comment is, so what? He also rationalized the price by comparing this coin to an original signed copy of the US Declaration Of Independence in terms of historical significance. I do not know whether there is only one original or several (probably depends upon the definition of original) but in any event, this rationalization is completely spurious. In this instance, the coin is desirable but relative to other coins that a buyer could consider as an alternative, is not worth that amount based upon its merits.