Most Valuable Silver Eagles for COLLECTORS & INVESTORS who want to know which American Silver Eagles are worth MOST money!
Thinking of collecting American Silver Eagle coins or buying them for investment purposes? START HERE!
⚡TIMESTAMPS FROM THE VIDEO⚡
00:00 – Josh author “Guide Book of American Silver Eagles”
00:16 – Investing in Silver Eagle Coins
00:26 – Collecting Silver Eagles
00:36 – Rare Silver Eagle Coins
01:07 – 1986 Bullion Strike American Silver Eagle Coin
01:38 – 1994 Bullion Strike American Silver Eagle Coin
02:45 – 1995-W Proof American Silver Eagle
03:12 – 1996 Bullion Strike American Silver Eagle Coin
03:31 – 2006-P Reverse Proof American Silver Eagle
04:21 – 2008-W Burnished Reverse of 2007 Silver Eagle
05:29 – 2011-P Reverse Proof American Silver Eagle
05:48 – 2012-S Reverse Proof Silver Eagle Coin
06:15 – 2013-W Enhanced Uncirculated Silver Eagle
06:56 – 2019-S Enhanced Reverse Proof Silver Eagle Coin
07:28 – Summary of Valuable Silver Eagles
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TRANSCRIPT:
Hey! This is Josh McMorrow-Hernandez, editor of The Fun Times Guide and also the author of “A Guide Book of American Silver Eagles” — this is part of the Bowers guide book series from Whitman Publishing.
Today we’re talking about the 10 rare and valuable silver eagles that you should be looking for. Okay, now a lot of folks think of the Silver Eagle as being a great bullion coin. It’s very popular with investors. But a lot of folks don’t seem to think about this series as being a great collector coin. That’s a huge misnomer. As a matter of fact, there are many many collectors who not only collect the Silver Eagle coin by date… but by mint mark… and finish.
And there’s a really cool other aspect of this series that a lot of folks are not aware of. And that’s the “rarity” element. They go… “Wait a minute! Rarity?” Well, yes. As a matter of fact, there are many Silver Eagles that have very low mintages. Or… might have high absolute mintages, but are conditionally rare in the higher grades. We’ll show you which 10 rare and valuable Silver Eagles those are. How much they’re worth. (Hint hint… some are worth thousands of dollars — no joke.) And I’m going to show you which 10 those are, so stay tuned.
[First up, the 1986 Bullion Strike] Only 5 million 393 thousand and 5 pieces were struck! And get this… This is the first year that the Silver Eagle was struck. So a lot of folks want this coin. And those who are building sets of Silver Eagles NEED this coin. So all the demand for the 1986 Silver Eagle has pushed its value really quite high. On average a typical example will cost $65 or more.
[Next up, the 1994 Bullion Strike] This coin saw a mintage of just 4 million 227 thousand 319 — making it one of the scarcest Silver Eagles in the whole series. It’s also a semi-key date. But that’s NOT why this coin is on this list of 10 valuable and rare Silver Eagles. It’s actually because it is a very difficult coin to find in MS70. Now, why is that? Well, one problem that a lot of collectors and investors see with mid-90s Silver Eagles is that they’re commonly seen with “milk spots” — which are basically white blotches that appear in the coin that many think were caused by a type of wash the mint used in the planchet preparation process back in those days. Because of the presence of milk spots on so many 1990 through 1994 Silver Eagles, they’re very hard to find in a grade of MS70 — which would imply a perfect “looking” coin. For example, an MS70 will set you back, on average, $5,000.
[The third coin on our list of rare and valuable silver eagles… the 1995 W Proof] The undisputed “king” of the series — this very rare American Silver Eagle — was struck at the West Point Mint and included as a freebie in the 1995 American Gold Eagle set. Just 30,125 were struck. Today, this coin is worth $3,500 and up.
[Next up, the 1996 Bullion Strike] This is indeed one of the 10 rare and valuable Silver Eagles as only 3 million, 603 thousand, 386 were made — making it actually the “key” to the bullion arm of the series. Values range from about $85 and up.
[Our 5th coin on this list of rare and valuable Silver Eagles… the 2006-P Reverse Proof] Struck to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Silver Eagle series, the proof elements on this coin are reversed from “typical” on most proof coins. Generally on proof coins, of the modern era at least, you’ll find that the fields (or the flat areas) of the proof coin have a mirror-like appearance. While the raised elements (the devices) have a frosty appearance. On this coin, that’s reversed! The devices (the raised elements) are actually reflective. Whereas the flat elements (or the fields) have a frosty appearance. Fewer than a quarter million were struck. And today the value for this coin is around $165 or more.
[As we reach the halfway point in our list of 10 rare and valuable Silver Eagles, we come to the 2008-W Burnished Reverse of 2007] Wow, that’s a mouthful! Right? It’s also the most important variety of the entire American Silver Eagle series. You see, at that time the Mint was moving from an analog process of preparing dies to a digital process. And some of the changes that occurred in the transition were that some of the fonts of the lettering on the coins took on a different appearance. What you see on the reverse of this particular variety is that the “U” of the word “United” actually resembles the “U” that was seen on pre-2008 Silver Eagles. So, in 2008 the letter “U” would obtain a little… like a leg, or a stub in the bottom right. But you don’t see that in this coin. It actually (the “U”) has a rounded bottom to it — like the pre-2008 lettering would look like. About 47,000 examples of this coin were thought to have been struck. And today, this piece is worth $450 or more.
[Coin number 7… the 2011-P Reverse Proof] This is a 25th Anniversary coin that was made for the series. And fewer than 100,000 were struck. It’s indeed a scarce coin that’s high in demand and worth $250 or more.
[Coin number 8 in this list of 10 rare and valuable Silver Eagles brings us to yet another Reverse Proof… This time it’s the 2012-S Reverse Proof] Only 224,000,981 examples were struck. Making it one of the scarcer coins in the series. And this piece demands prices of $125 or more.
[Coin number 9… the 2013-W Enhanced Uncirculated] Coming in at number 9, this unique looking coin has brilliant mirrored finishes on the obverse date, blue fields and red stripes on the American flag, on Miss Liberty’s dress, and various elements of the devices held by the eagle on the reverse. A light frosted finish on the obverse and reverse fields and a heavy frosted finish on the remaining design elements and the inscriptions. This coin’s distinctive appearance lures so many collectors and they want an example of their own. And prices start at a whopping $150.
[Finally, we arrive at coin number 10… the 2019-S Enhanced Reverse Proof] Fewer than 30,000 were struck, making it actually rarer than the 1995-W Proof that so many call the “king” of the series. When the 2019-S Enhanced Reverse Proof was first issued by the United States Mint back on November 14th 2019, it sold for a price of $65.95 — and I surely hope you bought that coin at that price back then because today this coin is worth $1,250!
There you have it… 10 rare and valuable American Silver Eagles that YOU should be looking for. Good luck finding these American Silver Eagles. Enjoy the hobby. Please “Like,” “Comment,” “Subscribe,” “Share”… And thank you for your time! This is Josh with The Fun Times Guide and author of “A Guide Book of American Silver Eagles” signing off.
