Click image to enlarge.
Emerging from a landmark piece of numismatic legislation, the American Silver Eagle was born on July 9, 1985, when President Ronald Reagan signed the Liberty Coin Act into law to authorize production of the coin. When it was first pitched by legislators, the American Silver Eagle was intended to serve as a bullion coin for investors who wanted to store wealth in the form of tangible assets such as precious metals. And there’s little doubt that the American Silver Eagle has fulfilled that goal many times over since the first specimens were struck in 1986. However, what many of the coin’s earliest proponents may not have foreseen was just how popular a collector coin the American Silver Eagle would become.
Nearly 40 years after the first Silver Eagle was sold to the public, the numismatic merits of the world’s most popular bullion coin – nearly 700 million sold – have come into clear focus. While proof Silver Eagles, principally intended for collectors, have been sold since the year the coin debuted, the collector appeal of the series has grown well beyond proofs. Since 1986, the United States Mint has produced a variety of Silver Eagles in a plethora of finishes to also include reverse proof, enhanced reverse proof, enhanced uncirculated, and “burnished” (what the United States Mint terms uncirculated and what PCGS categorizes as Specimen).
And that’s not all. Collectors even love the regular American Silver Eagles with their “bullion” finish. In fact, these are arguably the most widely collected Silver Eagles, often constituting the basis of many sets, including thousands of PCGS Registry Sets.
But what’s the appeal of the American Silver Eagle anyway? Isn’t it, as some may dismiss, “just a bullion coin”?
Hardly… It’s not “just” a bullion coin.
It’s a versatile modern-day silver dollar that appeals just as much to steely bullion investors as it does diehard numismatists. Surely, there’s the aesthetic factor. What’s not to love about the American Silver Eagle? It has always proudly carried Adolph A. Weinman’s timeless Walking Liberty design, resurrected from the United States half dollar of 1916 through 1947. When the Silver Eagle premiered in 1986, it sported John Mercanti’s modern-esque heraldic eagle reverse, which was replaced in 2021 with a soaring eagle motif designed by Emily S. Damstra and engraved by Michael Gaudioso.
Click image to enlarge.
Then there’s the rarity factor. Yes, some American Silver Eagles are absolutely scarce, if not due to mintage, then because of conditional rarity status for some issues. (Yes, not every Silver Eagle gets to earn a “70” grade!). There are even some captivating varieties and other novelties to be found among the American Silver Eagle, making it a terrific modern series for collectors (and investors) of every type.
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the passage of the Liberty Coin Act that spawned the American Silver Eagle, let’s explore 10 issues hailing from the bullion program that became a numismatic success.
10 American Silver Eagle Highlights
1986 Bullion Strike
The 1986 bullion strike saw a mintage of 5,393,005, which is not by any means the lowest production figure for the coin. However, its mintage of less than 5.4 million, coupled with the incredible collector demand for this first-year issue, pushes its value significantly above spot price even in lower Mint State grades. Yet, in grades of MS69 and especially MS70 values notably increase. As of this writing, 23,687 examples have been graded by PCGS in MS69, while only 2,101 have earned the MS70 grade. These population dichotomies are reflected in the coin’s price, which as of print time was $110 for an MS69 example but $1,000 for an MS70.
1994 Bullion Strike
The 1994 bullion silver eagle has become a surprisingly scarce coin, not necessarily because of a lower mintage (it saw a relatively anemic 4,227,319 strikes). Rather, the scarcity of the 1994 bullion issue is seen on the front of conditional rarity, a circumstance of the high frequency of milk spotting seen with this issue and several others from this period. Milk spots, whitish-colored blotches that the Mint acknowledged and may stem from the process of preparing silver planchets for striking, affect grade and can result in grade deductions. This has been the case with 1994 bullion strikes, few of which have been able to earn a PCGS MS70 grade, in part due to the presence of milk spotting. At present, only 97 examples have been conferred the grade of MS70, a threshold of numismatic “perfection” at which PCGS-graded pieces currently command $11,000.
1995-W Proof
The United States Mint celebrated the 10th anniversary of the American Eagle program by issuing the 10th gold proof set with a special addition: a free 1995-W Proof Silver Eagle. The five-piece set, inclusive of the free bonus Silver Eagle, was sold for $999; it must be remembered that was a high price to pay for a gold bullion coin set at a time when gold prices were still around $385 per ounce. When all was said and done, only 30,125 proof silver eagle strikes were emitted from the West Point Mint, and the 1995-W Proof was quickly recognized as the series key. Before long, thousands of 1995-W silver eagles were being broken out of their proof sets and submitted for grading as an individual rarity, though only a relatively small share scored the coveted PR70DCAM grade. In 2013, one of the then-few examples graded PCGS PR70DCAM fetched an astounding $86,655 at auction, with prices coming down as populations have slowly increased. Today, PCGS has graded around 525 in the grade of Proof-70, a threshold at which specimens currently command some $19,000. The decidedly more “affordable” PR69 specimens trade for closer to $3,500 – a price still well fitting for the “king of American Silver Eagles.”
1996 Bullion Strike
When it comes to year-over-year regular bullion strikes, the lowest mintage of the series was claimed in 1996 by that year’s bullion issue. Only 3,603,386 strikes were produced, leaving many to wonder why so few were struck in the first place. Remembering that Silver Eagle bullion strikes have been produced to meet general market need, the prevailing factor for low mintages in the case of the 1996 bullion emission was simply anemic demand. In the mid-1990s, precious metals markets were not as mercurial as they are today. Silver traded for around $5.20 an ounce in 1996, and swings of even just a dollar or so for the metal over the course of a year merited headlines in industry-related media. There simply was not enough market fervency around silver to warrant striking tens of millions of silver eagles in the mid-’90s, let alone even seven or 10 million pieces. What that leaves for collectors today is the widely declared “key date” for the bullion date set, with an MS69 example currently trading for $100. PCGS has graded around 300 in MS70, with those pieces retailing for $3,750.
2006-W Burnished
The 20th anniversary of the American Silver Eagle prompted the United States Mint to produce new offerings that eventually became mainstays of the silver bullion program. One of these is the 2006 Burnished American Silver Eagle, a coin boasting a finish that the Mint terms “Uncirculated” and is recognized as “Specimen” for the purposes of PCGS grading nomenclature. This first-of-its-type product originally sold for $19.95 when purchased directly from the United States Mint, and these pieces could be bought as part of a three-coin 20th anniversary set for $100 that also included that year’s proof and a newfangled novelty known as a reverse proof. Values as of this writing hover around $60 for an SP69 specimen and are about $225 for an example graded PCGS SP70.
2006-P Reverse Proof
Alongside the unfamiliar Burnished 2006-W Silver Eagle came the 2006-P Reverse Proof, a Philadelphia strike bearing cameo-frosted fields and highly mirrored devices and inscriptions. This unusual offering intrigued the numismatic public and became an instant hit with collectors. This first-year offering was sold in conjunction with its other inaugural counterpart, the 2006-W Burnished and 2006-W Proof in a three-piece coin set honoring the 20th anniversary of the American Silver Eagle program. The set sold through its maximum authorized production of 250,000 (with a price of $100) units, creating what became the second-lowest mintage of its time for any proof Silver Eagle, behind only the 1995-W Proof key date. Specimens currently trade for about $100 in PR69SDCAM, while those scoring a “perfect 70” take $325 as of this writing.
2008-W Burnished Reverse of 2007
The American Silver Eagle series isn’t bereft of die varieties (a few do exist), but certainly the most widely known is the 2008-W Burnished Reverse of 2007. Reported in spring 2008, this variety shows the smooth “U” in “UNITED” on the reverse characteristic of the font used on the coin from 1986 through 2007. In contrast, all 2008 Silver Eagles were supposed to feature a “U” with a little spur or descender on the bottom right of the letter. PCGS pegs the mintage of the 2008-W Burnished Reverse of 2007 to be 46,318, making this a scarce and valuable variety. Current values for the coin start at around $400, with PCGS-graded MS69 specimens going for $490 and MS70 examples garnering some $1,200.
2013-W Enhanced Uncirculated
The 2013-W Enhanced Uncirculated Silver Eagle exhibits three different kinds of finishes. A brilliant-mirrored sheen on the obverse date, red stripes and blue field on the American flag, the lines of Miss Liberty’s dress, and on the reverse, many aspects associated with the eagle. Light frosting is seen across the obverse and reverse. Finally, heavy frosting is present on the other design elements. The 2013-W Enhanced Uncirculated Silver Eagle was a first-of-its-kind offering, being offered for sale in the 2013 American Eagle West Point Two-Coin Silver Set, which was offered for $139.95 and saw final sales total 235,689 sets. Values for the coin today are $65 for an SP69 specimen and $90 for one graded SP70.
2019-S Enhanced Reverse Proof
The 2019-S Enhanced Reverse Proof became the first real contender to unseat the 1995-W Proof from its “rarest issue” status. Released on November 14, 2019, this special issue had an initial price of $65.95 and a limited mintage of just 30,000. All sold out within mere minutes on the United States Mint website and became hot-ticket items in the secondary market, with prices soon approaching – then eclipsing – four figures. As of this writing, PR69 specimens notch $1,175, and PR70 specimens trade for a respectable $2,450. While it’s debatable whether the 2019-S Enhanced Reverse Proof is now considered “the” series key, given its mintage of 29,910 – technically a couple hundred clicks lower than the 1995-W Proof and its mintage of 30,125. For the moment, prices and general popularity of the 1995-W Proof seem to register a little higher, but it’s safe to say both the 1995-W Proof and the 2019-S Enhanced Reverse Proof serve as dual keys that keep collectors very busy when building complete sets of American Silver Eagles.
2020-W V75 Privy Mark Proof
The 2020-W End of World War II Privy Mark Proof recognizes the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in 1945. This became the first modern U.S. coin to carry a type of incuse feature known as a privy mark, bearing the characters “V75” inside of a cartouche resembling the shape of the Rainbow Pool – a water element centrally featured at the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. The “V” in the privy mark stands for “victory” while the “75” denotes the anniversary of the war’s end. The maximum authorized production figure of 75,000 was quickly reached when the coin was issued for sale by the United States Mint on November 5, 2020. The coin retails in the secondary market today for much more than its $83 Mint-issued price, with PR69 specimens taking $350 as of this writing, and PR70 examples going for $550.