An Interesting History regarding the American Silver Eagles
From time immemorial, the great civilizations based their economies around the "Gold Standard," or the value of gold. Later on, European countries came to prefer silver, which created the "Silver Standard." Both precious metals were then concurrently used for the valuation of currencies of various countries. In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, America used this dual system as well, with its silver standard using the Spanish silver dollar, the real, as well as the gold standard using its own gold dollar, the Eagle, that the countries recovering from internal wars would soon covet.
The crisis of free banking that resulted in the American Civil War brought the conclusion of that silver standard. Silver coins were no longer minted by then when the succeeding financial crises of the World War plus the Depression required paper currency with gold reserves to back them up as a solid foundation. However, by 1933, the floundering economy required Congress to change the gold standard to silver for the first time in American history. This was kept set until 1968, when it was common practice in the U.S. Treasury, not the Federal Reserve, to allow people to redeem silver dollars and silver bullion for silver certificates.
Silver wasn't part of normal circulation again until the 1980s, when the Defense National Stockpile found it had an more than enough silver and asked for Congressional approval to sell it. So during the term of President Ronald Reagan, the very first silver coins in decades - the American Silver Eagles - were minted in 1986. They were first minted in San Francisco from 1986 - 1992, thus earning them the mintmark "S." Afterward, they were minted inside the Philadelphia press for the following 7 years and given the "P" mark. From 2001 to today, they were minted at West Point and have the "W" mintmark. The most awaited coin of this decade, the 2010 Proof Silver Eagle, has made a record in sales of silver bullion coins. After rocky starts from January 2010, the expected shortage of coins pushed the minting and subsequent sales to November 19, 2010. Impressively priced at .95 each, one household was given a maximum allowance of 1 hundred coins from the United States Mint.
2010 Proof Silver Eagle - The United States Mint has offered Silver Eagles for precious metals investors and coin collectors since 1986.
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The American Silver Eagle – A Favorite With Collectors and Investors
The American Eagle is the emblem of the United States of America with its great strength and majestic beauty symbolizing freedom. Whether soaring above towering mountains and canyons or gliding through picturesque valleys at one with Nature, the eagle has unlimited freedom. The Eagle appears in the Seals of many States, on most US gold and silver coinage, and it is used for decorative patriotic purposes.
The American Silver Eagle is the Official Silver Bullion coin of the USA initially released by the US Mint on November 24, 1986. It is guaranteed for weight, content and purity to contain one troy ounce of.999 pure silver with an actual composition of 99.93% silver and 0.07% copper. It weighs 31.101 grams (1.000 ounces), has a diameter of 40.6 mm (1.598 inches) and is 2.98 mm (0.117 inches) thick with a reeded edge.
Originally issued as an investment coin there are three versions:
1. Bullion: A bullion coin is valued by its weight in a specific precious metal and is sold through authorized coin and bullion dealers. The American Silver Eagle bullion coin an accepted by Individual Retirement Account investments.
2. Proof: This is the collectible proof version available in perfect grades directly from the US Mint and carries a "P" (proof) mark.
3. Uncirculated: This recent minting is the uncirculated collectible, hand-loaded into the coining press, struck on specially burnished blanks and carries the "W" mark of the United States Mint at West Point.
The American Eagle is the largest silver dollar ever issued by the U.S. Mint and is highly prized for its beauty and silver content. The obverse design comes from the popular "Walking Liberty" design by Adolph A. Weinman originally used on the 1916 to 1947 United States' half-dollar coin. It has the official motto "In God We Trust"with the word LIBERTY around the out top half and the year of issuance. The reverse designed by John Mercanti depicts a heraldic eagle behind a shield with an olive branch in its right talon and arrows in its left talon. Above the eagle are thirteen five-pointed stars representing the Thirteen Colonies and the motto "E PLURIBUS UNUM" appears with the phrases UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 1 OZ. FINE SILVER~ONE DOLLAR. The American Eagle is"official legal tender" at face value; however its silver value far exceeds this.
The Silver Eagle is sort after by collectors who collect the series by date. A complete collection must include two key dates. The 1995-W Proof Silver Eagle which was only included in the 1995 Gold Eagle Proof Set and had a minimal mintage of 30,125 coins. The 2006-W Reverse Proof Silver Eagle which was only included in the 2006 20th Anniversary Silver Eagle Set, which was limited to 250,000 sets.
Some bullion or proof issues carry premiums due to lower mintages. A classic example is The Bullion 1996 Silver Eagle which had an extremely low mintage of just 3,603,386 while only 498,293 of the 1996 Proof Silver Eagles were minted. The 1994 Proof Silver Eagle had the lowest series mintage for a standard proof coin of just 372,168.
Silver continues to be a good investment with the ounce price in the new Millennium rising from around the $ US5 in 2000 to over in 2010. Forecasters predicate continuing upward movement driven by the jump in retail demand along with the increase
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American silver eagle coins
The official silver bullion coin of the United States is the American Eagle. Originally minted in 1986 by the US Mint, the Silver American Eagle Coin is comprised of 99.9% pure silver with a weight of one troy ounce and has a nominal face value of one dollar. It was authorized by the Liberty Coin Act and it's weight and purity are certified by the United States Mint. There have been 3 versions of the Silver Eagle released for investors and collectors. There is the Bullion Silver Eagle, the Proof Silver Eagle and the Uncirculated Silver Eagle.
The very first Silver Eagle Coin was struck in San Francisco on October 29th 1986. The minting was presided over by the Secretary of The Treasury James A. Baker III at the San Francisco Assay Office. The event was dubbed the San Francisco Silver Rush of 1986.
The Bullion Eagle was originally minted from 1986-1998 at the San Francisco Mint and do not bear any mint mark. Then in 1999 for two years they were minted at bothe the Philadelphia Mint and the West Point Mint. However, since 2001 the coins have exclusively been minted at the West Point Mint in West Point, NY.
The Proof Silver Eagle originally was minted through the San Francisco Mint and had the "S" mint mark from 1986-1992. From there they moved to the Philadelphia Mint and were struck with a "P" mint mark. They remained there until 2001 when they made the move to the West Point Mint which is where they are still being minted today with the "W" mint mark. There was no 2009 Proof Silver Eagle but again in 2010 the Proof coin returned still minted out of West point.
Uncirculated Silver Eagle coins were minted from 2006-2008 and designed by the US Mint for collectors. The coins were struck at the West Point Mint using burnished blanks. Sometimes referred to as W Uncirculated or Burnished Uncirculated, these coins have been out of production since 2008.
==> SPECIAL RELEASE
There have also been a few Special Issue Silver Eagle Series released.
1993 saw the release of the Philadelphia Set which was issued to commemorate the bicentennial of the very first striking of American Coins at the Philadelphia Mint.
In 1995 there was a West pint Mint issued Silver Eagle issued along with the Philadelphia Mint release. This coin is known as the 1995-W Proof Silver Eagle and was sold as a part of the 10th Anniversary American Eagle 5 Coin Set. The set also included Proof Gold Eagles in 1oz, 1/2oz, 1/4oz and 1/10oz sizes. A very limited number of these sets were produced and they continue to be a highly desired piece.
2000 brought the United States Millennium Coinage and Currency Set that had a 2000 Silver Eagle Bullion Coin minted at the West Point Mint but without the "W" mint mark.It also included a 2000 Denver mint released Sacagawea Dollar and an uncirculated 1999 one dollar bill. There were only 75,000 sets minted and less than twenty are known to contain Sacagawea dollars that do not have a burnished finish.
In early 2004 the US Mint issued the Legacies of Freedom United States and United Kingdom Silver Bullion Coin Set. The set contained of a 2003 bullion Silver Eagle and a 2002 Silver Britannia bullion coin from the United Kingdom.
In celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the American Silver Eagle program in 2006, the United States Mint released a very special Reverse Proof Silver Eagle coin form the Philadelphia Mint. This Reverse Proof coin was available as part of a set that also included the standard Proof Silver Eagle and the new Burnished Uncirculated Silver Eagle coins. The Silver Reverse proof features a frosted background and mirrored surfaces.
The Uncirculated Silver Eagles were also issued with the 20th Anniversary Gold and Silver Eagle Set which had an extremely low issue of only 20,000 sets.
2007 and 2008 had the uncirculated Silver Eagle coins packaged with each years Philadelphia minted Presidential Dollars and Denver minted Sacagawea dollars in the start of the Annual Uncirculated Dollar Coin Set.
==> SILVER EAGLE DESIGN
The design of the United States Silver Eagle's obverse side was taken from the Walking Liberty which had originally been used for the Walking Liberty Half Dollar from 1916-1947. It became one of the most iconic American Silver Coin designs and was a favorite of the American public. For that reason, the design was brought back for the Silver Eagle Bullion coin with the year of release, LIBERTY and IN GOD WE TRUST being added.
The reverse design has a heraldic eagle behind a shield grasping an olive branch in its right talon and arrows in its left. It is holding a banner in its beak that is inscribed with E PLURBIS UNIM. It also has 13 stars representing the 13 original Colonies as well as UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 1oz FINE SILVER ONE DOLLAR as well as the mint mark when there is one.
From its original minting to today, the Silver Eagle American Bullion Coin remains one of the most desired and collected coins in not only the American Silver Coin series but of all of the US minted bullion coins. With special releases, yearly mintings and even the odd error popping up Silver Eagles are a great choice for every collector.
For more information on silver eagle dollars and others Details please visit proof silver eagles Website.
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