First strike 2003 Silver Eagle

asnooker

I received my First strike 2003 yesterday along with it's letter of authenticity. I must admit I am very dissapointed! It's rather dull and lackluster, not at all what I expected. Has anyone else noticed this yet? Or did I just get a stinker?

Tootawl

Letter of authenticity?? Uncirculated SAEs don't come with one of those from the mint. Proofs do (as is a COA), but not uncirculated SAEs. It's something that the people you bought it from made up.

asnooker

Yes they made the certificate up themselves. The coin is just so so..I was just wondering if anyone else had gotten a first strike that was blahhhh. It can't compare to my other eagles that weren't first strike!

PTVETTER

Why don't collectors support thier local dealer. This would not happen, And why in god's name would anyone buy anything from the TV?

Tootawl

<< <i>Why don't collectors support thier local dealer. >>



Because some of us don't have a local dealer.

I just got my 2003 SAE NGC MS-69 yesterday. It is kinda dull compared to other years.

Steve27

"And why in god's name would anyone buy anything from the TV? "
I must have missed something, where does it say that the coin was purchased via a TV advertisment?


Another numismatic double-speak term: "first strike" (what does this mean, the first 100, 1000, 10000; the answer is there is no definition, just hype).

Geoman

I should be getting my 2 ASE's either this weekend, or Monday. So will post how they look, and compare them to other years. Yes, your COA must have been made up, as they do not come with the uncirculated ASE as other have pointed out already. And the US Mint has not started selling the 2003 Proof ASE's yet, so no way to get one of those yet either.

jhar

Who did you buy the coin from?

shirohniichan

Are they already making silver eagles commemorating our "first strike" policy against North Korea?!

GDJMSP

Too many sellers use the term first strike in order to make sales. They particularly use this term in the beginning of the year when selling Silver Eagles because some folks mistakenly believe that the coin must be a first strike because they bought it early in the year or when they first went on sale. This actually means nothing in regard to the coin being a first strike.

You can get a first strike coin just as easily in July or September as you can in January. You can get a first strike coin in any month that the coins were minted. A first strike coin is one of the first few produced by a given die. And since they go through many different dies during every month - your chances of getting a first strike coin are no better or worse in any month. And there is no way except by grading - and not always then - to tell if a coin is a true first strike. The only ones who know if a given coin is a first strike or not are the folks running the press.

So don't be fooled by claims of a coin being a first strike - it's merely a marketing ploy.

numobri

I went through two rolls,nothing great.

eureka

As an aside, PCGS is now shipping 2003 dated silver eagles for Collector's Club memberships. I got one this week for one of my membership extentions.

RNCHSN

I had a whole roll of 2003 SAEs that had a very nice cartwheel effect on the reverse. When I looked closely, it appeared that the die must have clashed and been polished for reuse. It was nicely done and the only real indication is that the field had a distinct change in angle, around the Eagle, stars and letters. This did result in the images having a slightly shallower appearance, but the overall effect was a little better than the plain old flat field. I can email an image if anyone wants to see it, but it's just a little too large to attach here.

Ron

MacCoin

I brought a first strike last year from a member and set it on a window now its half silver and half gold.

flaminio

<< <i>Why don't collectors support their local dealer. >>



My local dealers don't carry the stuff I collect. Besides, most of them are kind of jerks (not all).

66Tbird

I just went through 500 of them. here's my take. It was a monster box #4543

Every one had a luster break in the sun, yet I have seen the graded 69's with that, so it doesn't bother me much.


70% had mild luster breaks else were, like around the hand.
60% had luster break on the "T" in liberty
60% had pin hole type luster breaks.
75% were scratched(a mark of some type) on both sides
20% were scratched(a mark of some type) on one side


grade wise went like this IMO

69's--- 75 pieces, if the sun thing goes through that is.
68's----325
67 and below 100

Had one with a die break(small@1/16 inch), and three with strike doubling

GDJMSP

<< <i>I had a whole roll of 2003 SAEs that had a very nice cartwheel effect on the reverse. When I looked closely, it appeared that the die must have clashed and been polished for reuse. Ron >>




When the Mint wishes to resurface a Silver Eagle die they place a planchet on the anvil die and then place a piece of emery paper over the planchet with the rough side of the paper face up. They then strike the planchet. The hammer die coming down on the rough surface of the emery paper is resurfaced to give the luster effect so common on Silver Eagle coins. They then toss the planchet that was used into the melting bin and proceed with the normal minting process again.

RNCHSN

These were not just polished with emery. I'm not talking about about a polish job to clean up normal wear. These had significant amounts of material removed from the die at the edges of the Eagle, stars, and lettering, as if to polish out clash marks.

Conder101

Accprding to a Coin World Collectors Clearinghouse article this past year the mint no longer uses the emery paper resurfacing method. They quoted the mint as the source of that information though so it may be suspect.