AMERICAN EAGLE ONE OUNCE SILVER DOLLARS
PERFECT AND NEAR-PERFECT SILVER DOLLARS FOR COLLECTORS OF THE 21ST CENTURY
The American Silver Eagle Dollar series. is rapidly becoming the most widely collected silver dollar. There are many reasons for the tremendous popularity of these coins.
Each dollar coin contains exactly one troy ounce of 0.999 silver. No other silver dollar in United
States history has been composed of one full ounce of silver. Being made from an ounce of silver, it’s a very large silver dollar, making it a very impressive coin when a collector holds one of these masterpieces in hand.
John Merchanti, the chief engraver at the United States mint in 1986, used the model from the original classic
1916 Walking Liberty half dollar for the 70th anniversary. Long considered among the most beautiful renditions of Lady Liberty in United States coinage, this classic rendition is a major reason for the series’ popularity. For the reverse design, Merchanti chose the “Heraldic Eagle,” a design that first appeared on a United States silver dollar in 1798. Merchanti modernized the image, while retaining the classic beauty of that American Eagle rendition.
The American Silver Eagle is now the longest running silver dollar design in United States Mint history. My sense is the American Silver Eagle series has only just begun because, in 2021, the U.S. Mint made United States numismatic history. For the 35th anniversary of the series, the American Silver Eagle received a major re-design of its reverse. The classic Walking Liberty obverse continues on, but beginning in 2021, there is a new reverse.
This new reverse for the year 2021 is historic.
When the mint announced the new design for 2021, it announced it would also strike 320,000 American
Silver Eagles with the original Heraldic Eagle reverse, offering both versions for 2021, and that the original, final Heraldic Eagle silver eagle would be available for sale at 9:00 a.m. Pacific time, February 11, 2021.
The Mint sold out the entire commitment of 320,000 coins with the original Heraldic Eagle in under three minutes. And the demand for American Silver Eagles with the new reverse should be historic. So this translates into an army of new collectors attracted to this incredibly popular series of beautiful classic silver dollars for the first time.
BASICS OF COLLECTING AMERICAN SILVER EAGLES AS MINT STATE BUSINESS STRIKES AND PROOFS
The United States Mint strikes two kinds of American Silver Eagles. Business strikes are manufactured with the Mint State finish people are accustomed to for use in commerce. The business strike coins are popularly referred to as “Mint State.” These are the most commonly minted. Over 95% of the American Silver Eagles struck by the United States mint are of the Mint State business strike variety.
Mint State American Silver Eagles are struck once off high speed presses. The dies receive no special polishing. The focus is on producing the coins as inexpensively as possible. If acquired in quantity, the coins are typically shipped in tubes of 20, one coin stacked on another. In other words, there is coin to coin contact. As a result, many Mint State American Silver Eagles will have minor marks from contact with other coins.
Over the past twenty years, collecting Mint State American Silver Eagles with minimal contact and spotting, in a grade of Mint State 69 on the one through 70 scale, has been very desirable for collecting. The demand for complete 1986 – 2021 Heraldic Eagle sets in Mint State 69 is growing almost exponentially, coupled with the limited supply of these coins, especially in the earlier pre-2005 years, when these coins were not as heavily collected as they are now. Also, there are fewer surviving examples in exceptional condition, and this has been driving the values higher and well beyond their bullion value.
Flawless sets in the highest grade, Mint State 70, currently command tremendous premiums, but also, in my opinion, represent tremendous value at current price levels.
American Silver Eagle Proof coins are my personal favorites because they are so beautiful. A proof coin is meant to represent the state of the art, the finest possible quality the mint is able to produce given the technology of the day. The key phrase in this statement is “the finest possible quality the mint is able to produce given the technology of the day.”
The mint is continually striving to improve the quality of its proof coins. The basic principle has remained unchanged since the early 1800s, when the mint first began striking proof coins.
Proof coins are struck from specially prepared dies, treated and polished until the fields of the coin exhibit a mirror finish.
While the Mint State American Silver Eagles, and Mint State coins in general, are struck once, proof coins are struck at least twice under high pressure, in order to bring out every detail of the design as the mint intended.
Once struck, while Mint State coins are allowed to make contact with one another, proof coins are individually handled, and placed in their own compartment. In other words, ideally, a proof coin should not have marks from coin to coin contact. Given that proof coins are intended to represent the state of the art, proof dies are replaced far sooner than dies for Mint
State coins and at the earliest signs of die wear.
For illustration purposes, included in this article are photographic enlargements of a Mint State-70 (perfect) American Eagle Silver 1 oz. Dollar coin and its counterpart, an American Eagle Silver 1 oz. Dollar coin graded Proof-70 (perfect), with the Ultra Cameo designation.
The bottom line: the making of a proof coin is a very labor and technology intensive process. While a Mint State American Silver Eagle ordered directly from the mint is usually priced for only a few dollars over the latest silver spot price, the premium for a proof coin is currently about $30 over spot silver.
The proof coin is a very special coin, intended to represent the finest possible quality the mint is able to produce given the technology of the day.
This table shows the mintages of the Mint State
American Silver Eagles and the Proof American
Silver Eagles each year since 1986 through 2019:
EXPERT OPINIONS ON RARITY AND QUALITY
Of the greatest significance for you is that the earliest dates, those American Silver Eagles struck from the first year of issue, 1986, through about 2004, are the rarest dates in Mint State 69, or if you choose the proof coins, Proof 70 Ultra Cameo. The technology in those first almost 20 years of the series was simply not as
advanced as it is today in 2021. Many coins would go straight from the mint into collector’s hands with serious imperfections. Spotting was the most common problem.
The NGC PF70 Population Table here table highlights the NGC Proof-70 Ultra Cameo American Silver Eagle populations. Independent coin grading service NGC (Numismatic Guaranty Corporation) grades coins on a one through 70 scale, where one is the lowest, and 70 is perfect. Each coin is encapsulated in a sonically sealed, airtight, tamper-evident holder with a hologram. NGC holders are made from medical grade plastic, and coins are graded by world-class graders and authenticators. According to NGC, many of the Smithsonian’s rarest and most important pieces are housed in specially designed NGC holders which allow for both long-term protection and easy access to researchers.
V 75 PRIVY MARK ON COIN PRODUCTION
75 years after the conclusion of World War II, the United States Mint honored the Allied powers’ victory with two exclusive issues of the 2020 American Silver Eagle and the 2020 American Gold Eagle. These exclusive, limited production issues are characterized by a privy mark that reads “V75” and is framed by an outline of the World War II
Memorial Rainbow Pool in Washington, D.C. A privy mark has been defined by the United States Mint as “a symbol that communicates information about a coin’s production.”
Although not known as “privy marks” at the time, there have been numerous occasions in U.S. history in which symbols were added to a coin to include additional information. Most famously, arrows were added to both sides of the date on Seated Liberty half dollars, quarter dollars, dimes, and half dimes from 1853 to 1855. These arrows signified that the weight of the coin had changed.
More recently, an eagle head privy mark has appeared on American Platinum Eagles from 2009 to 2014. In the case of these American Platinum Eagles, the U.S. Mint was communicating that the coins belonged to a special series of designs that honored the Preamble to the Constitution. Now, in 2020, the “V75” incorporated onto the obverse of the American Silver Eagle and American Gold Eagle has officially been declared a “privy mark” by the United States Mint.
The 2020 End of World War II Privy Mark appears on special, limited releases of the American Silver Eagle and American Gold Eagle. With a mintage of just 1,945 coins, the 2020 End of World War II American Gold Eagle sold out minutes after its release on November 5, 2020 and is expected to sell for large premiums. Likewise, the End of World War II American Silver Eagle sold out in just three hours and is expected to command a significant premium due to its small mintage of just 75,000 coins.
If you were unable to acquire the End of World War II American Silver Eagle and American Gold Eagle, however, you still have an opportunity to find these privy marks on the America the Beautiful Quarters in your pocket change. This was made possible because the West Point Mint struck a limited number of America the Beautiful Quarters with End of World War II privy marks. These special quarters are being mixed into bags of circulating Philadelphia and Denver Mint America the Beautiful Quarters and shipped across the country.
OPINING ON FUTURE DEMAND
It’s a great time to begin collecting the silver dollar American Silver Eagle classics.
In the years ahead, as tens of thousands of enthusiastic collectors attempt to complete a set of these stunning proof American Silver Eagles, it is the earliest dates, the rarest dates in exceptional, problem-free condition which will be most difficult to acquire and will be in the greatest demand.
As popular as this series is now, I believe it will be a drop in the bucket compared to the demand in the years ahead.
The supply of the finest known examples is very limited, and the demand is growing.