An Interesting History Regarding The American Silver Eagles

By Author: Deborah Smith
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Gold has always been used to measure the strength of a nation's economy, a practice that dates back to the very first pages of history. As commerce grew, blossoming countries came to prefer the more available silver, giving you the Silver Standard. Both precious metals were then concurrently used like the valuation of currencies of various countries. By 1873, America had a dual metal standard, a silver standard determined by the Spanish real, subsequently known as the peso or pieces of eight, and a gold standard currency called the Eagle, a coin that was much in demand in European countries after the uncertainties from the First World War.

The American Civil War resulted in the use of an individual standard only - the Gold Standard. Gold was found being more stable as reserves were built up after the tumult of the Wars then the Depression with paper currency being the more common kind of money. Changes within the economy by 1933 had Congress shifting to a silver standard in order to bolster the commercial losses going down around that time. Silver certificates circulated until 1968, where the U.S. Treasury, not the Federal ...
... Reserve, exchanged silver certificates for silver bullion and silver dollars.

In the 1970s, the Defense National Stockpile had an far more silver and was able to receive Congressional permission to sell it off by the early 1980s. Silver coins, the American Silver Eagle, were first struck in 1986 after decades of not being in production anymore. From 1986 to 1992, they were minted in San Francisco, giving them the mintmark S. The next series were struck in Philadelphia, all bearing the "P" mark, from 1993 to 2000 . The current series is being minted in West Point and bear the "W" mintmark. The most awaited coin of the 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. Priced at a formidable $45.95 per coin, the United States Mint has given each household a limit of 100 coins only.

2010 Proof Silver Eagle - The United States Mint has offered Silver Eagles for precious metals investors and coin collectors since 1986.