What Is the Value of the American Eagle Silver Coins?
A coin collection could provide handsome profits over the years, especially if you invest some extra cash on the American Eagle Silver Coins proofs. But first of all, what are coin proofs? These are uncirculated versions of coins or bullions that the United States Mint specifically produces for sale to the general public, particularly to collectors.
In the case of the American Eagle Silver Coins proofs, these were struck as part of the US Bullion Program implemented in 1986 under the authority of the United States Congress. Also included in this program is the minting of American Gold Eagle Coins. An American Eagle Platinum proof was added to the mintage starting 1997.
Each Silver Eagle Coin proof and the other coins minted under the bullion program are struck in a special minting process. The method calls for having burnished coin blanks manually fed into presses with special dies fitted. The coin blanks are struck several times, resulting in softly frosted but very detailed images. An elegant accent is provided by encasing the coin in a velvet-lined presentation box, and topped off with a Certificate of Authenticity from the US Mint.
The American Silver Eagle Coin is also available as bullion for investors. The US Mint channels these bullion coins through its network of authorized purchasers, who create a secondary market for the public by both selling and buying the Silver Eagles.
There are several options in purchasing Silver Eagle Coins. One is called bulk purchase, which involves buying green boxes which investors know as “Monster Boxes” containing 25 tubes or rolls of 20-coin Silver Eagle. A green top with the US Treasury seal makes the 20-coin rolls distinctive. The bulk method usually provides the lowest premium, as opposed to an individual Silver Eagle Coin purchase which can generate the highest premium.
To be successful in investing in a coin collection, be it in bullion or proofs, you must have a familiarity of the varying mintages of the Silver Eagle Coin. The year-to-year fluctuation in mintages since 1986 greatly influences the price levels of the bullion and coin proofs. Collectors often make use of a standard reference book to determine the mintages. Generally, these are in the millions of coins for the businesses or bullion strikes and hundreds of thousands for the coin proofs.
It will also help to have an understanding of the mintmarks in a Silver Eagle Coin which indicate where the coin was struck. There are three mints where Silver Eagles have been struck. If a coin bears an “S” mintmark, it is from the San Francisco mint which produced coins early in the series. Those coins with the “P” mark were struck in the Philadelphia mint. Coins or proofs of more recent mintage carry the “W” on the reverse side to indicate that these were from the US Mint in West Point, New York.
Related Coin Articles
- American Eagle Silver Coins Review - The US Mint first issued the Silver Eagle in November 1986. The minting of the Silver Eagle Coins is part of the American Eagle Bullion program authorized by the United States Congress in 1985. The Silver Eagle medallions come out of three mints.
- Are the American Eagle Silver Coins A Good Coin To Collect? - In addition to selling the Silver Eagle Coin series through dealers in a secondary market, the US Mint also directly sells coin proofs to collectors. A 2008-W Silver Eagle Reverse coin was minted using the 2007 reverse dies.
- Why is there a surge in sales of American Eagle Silver Coins? - The 2008 proof mintage sports some other features distinctive in the Silver Eagle Coin series. Every American Silver Eagle Coin is composed of .999 fine silver, with a weight of 1.000 troy ounce for a silver content of 0.999 troy ounces.