Silver Eagle Buying Guide

The American Silver Eagle is the official silver bullion coin of the United States of America. It was first released by the United States Mint in 1986 following the passing of the Liberty Coin Act of 1985. The coin is struck only in the one-troy ounce size, which has a face value of $1 and is guaranteed to contain one troy ounce of 99.9% pure silver. Its content, weight, and purity are certified by the United States Mint and the value is backed by the United States Government. In addition to the bullion version, the United States Mint has produced a proof version and an uncirculated version for coin collectors. This can be a bit confusing since the bullion version is also technically "Uncirculated" or "Never been circulated" condition. The chief distinction is the bullion coins are not offered by the US Mint, only authorized distributors. The US Mint issued uncirculated coins have a mint mark depicting where they are created and the bullion versions have no mint mark. Silver Eagles have been produced at three mints: the Philadelphia Mint, the San Francisco Mint, and the West Point Mint.


Silver Eagle Design

Unlike the Chinese Silver Panda which changes it's design each year, the Silver Eagle Coins maintain the same design on both the obverse (front) and the reverse with the exception of the date of the coin. The front of the coin features the walking Lady Liberty design taken from the enormously popular Wlking Liberty half dollar series from 1916-1947. Lady Liberty is depicted gracefully walking across a sunlit horizon. The reverse features the US Eagle and Shield emblem with 13 stars. The words "1 oz fine silver ~ one dollar" are featured on the bottom of the coin along with "United States of America" across the top of the reverse. Each year the date is updated on the front of the coin.

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American Silver Eagle Mintages

Year Bullion Proof Uncirculated Total
1986 Silver Eagle 5,393,005 1,446,778 - 6,839,783
1987 Silver Eagle 11,442,335 904,732 - 12,347,067
1988 Silver Eagle 5,004,646 557,370 - 5,562,016
1989 Silver Eagle 5,203,327 617,694 - 5,821,021
1990 Silver Eagle 5,840,110 695,510 - 6,535,620
1991 Silver Eagle 7,191,066 511,925 - 7,702,991
1992 Silver Eagle 5,540,068 498,654 - 6,038,722
1993 Silver Eagle 6,763,762 405,913 - 7,169,675
1994 Silver Eagle 4,227,319 372,168 - 4,599,487
1995 Silver Eagle 4,672,051 438,511 - 5,110,562
1995-W Silver Eagle - 30,125 - 30,125
1996 Silver Eagle 3,603,386 500,000 - 4,103,386
1997 Silver Eagle 4,295,004 435,368 - 4,730,372
1998 Silver Eagle 4,847,549 450,000 - 5,297,549
1999 Silver Eagle 7,408,640 549,796 - 7,958,436
2000 Silver Eagle 9,239,132 600,000 - 9,839,132
2001 Silver Eagle 9,001,711 746,398 - 9,748,109
2002 Silver Eagle 10,539,026 647,342 - 11,186,368
2003 Silver Eagle 8,495,008 747,831 - 9,242,839
2004 Silver Eagle 8,882,754 801,602 - 9,684,356
2005 Silver Eagle 8,891,025 816,663 - 9,707,688
2006 Silver Eagle 10,676,522 1,092,477 466,573 12,235,572
2006-P Reverse Proof Silver Eagle - 248,875 - 248,875
2007 Silver Eagle 9,028,036 821,759 621,333 10,471,128
2008 Silver Eagle 20,583,000 700,979 533,757 21,817,736
2009 Silver Eagle 30,459,000 Not offered Not offered 30,459,000
2010 Silver Eagle 34,764,500 860,000 Not offered 35,624,500
2011 Silver Eagle 40,020,000 950,000 409,927 41,379,927
2011-S Silver Eagle - - 100,000 100,000
2011-P Reverse Proof Silver Eagle - 100,000 - 100,000
2012 Silver Eagle 33,742,500 869,386 230,872 34,842,758
2012-S Silver Eagle - TBD - TBD
2012-S Reverse Proof Silver Eagle - 224,981 - 224,981
2013 Silver Eagle TBD TBD TBD TBD
2014 Silver Eagle TBD TBD TBD TBD
Total 315,754,482 18,642,837 2,362,462 336,759,781

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