Do "First Strike" and "Early Release" meet the same criteria?

jmski52

I've never paid much attention to the criteria from across the street, but does anyone know the reason why the status of "Early Release" won't cross over if the coins are evaluated as having the same grade?

I'm wondering how much more market activity (and re-grading activity for Registry Sets) might take place if the criteria and company policies were juxtaposed.

daltex

@jmski52 said:
I've never paid much attention to the criteria from across the street, but does anyone know the reason why the status of "Early Release" won't cross over if the coins are evaluated as having the same grade?

I'm wondering how much more market activity (and re-grading activity for Registry Sets) might take place if the criteria and company policies were juxtaposed.

I don't know the answer, but I'd suspect crossing a coin (any coin) from one service to another (any services) you'd lose any promotional info from the label. ANACS may be willing to guarantee the provenance of a certain coin, but not just because ICG says so.

Zoins

I don't know about ATS, but PCGS will grade APMEX MintDirect as First Strike:

https://www.pcgs.com/apmex

There are 3 different APMEX slabs below:

1. Version that just says "MintDirect Premier"
2. Version that says "FirstStrike PCGS FirstStrike Eligible"
3. Version that just has "PCGS" logo

Namvet69

I agree the aforementioned phrases are just that, labeling info requested by a customer but not verification of mintage origins. And thusly not carried over. IMO

ricko

JMO... I consider such terms just marketing and collector hype.... Collect the coin for what the coin is... Quality of strike, preservation and appearance. Cheers, RickO

MetroD

@Zoins said:
I don't know about ATS, but PCGS will grade APMEX MintDirect as First Strike:

https://www.pcgs.com/apmex

There are 3 different APMEX slabs below:

1. Version that just says "MintDirect Premier"
2. Version that says "FirstStrike PCGS FirstStrike Eligible"
3. Version that just has "PCGS" logo

As I understand it, APMEX currently offers two different MintDirect tiers:
~ MintDirect (unsearched) - Example
~ MintDirect Premier (unsearched + eligible for PCGS 'First Strike', if submitted sealed) - Example

Reference

As far as I can tell, every MintDirect Premier item is currently identified with four design elements:
1) the PCGS shield logo;
2) the "MintDirect Premier" logo;
3) "First Strike" on a yellow banner;
4) "PCGS First Strike Eligible".

Consider the 2023 Au Britannia example. Element #1 is on the reverse side of the case, while the balance of the elements are on the obverse side of the case.

Source: https://www.apmex.com/product/267910/2023-gb-1-oz-gold-britannia-mintdirect-premier-pcgs-fs-king

291fifth

Just marketing gimmicks.

MetroD

There is conflicting info on the PCGS website specific to this issue.

In the FAQs section, it says "no".

Source: https://www.pcgs.com/faq

However, on the 'crossover' page, it says that it "may be recognized".

Source: https://www.pcgs.com/crossover