It wasn’t until 1986 that the U.S. Mint in West Point New York, was placed into operation, and began producing both Silver and Gold Eagles. Before that, beginning in 1980, I had gold Maple leafs, but no silver ones. By 1986, it became almost common knowledge that the U.S. dollar was steadily losing value or purchasing power. It had been doing that for a long time, but for some reason, the Treasury decided to mint coins made of precious metals. The government has what they call the “CPI” or Consumer Price Index, which is supposed to be an average of all consumer prices. The CPI is measured in a figure, and the CPI today is about 252, as it was last November, and newer figures have not yet been posted.
The CPI figure in 1913, as an example, was 9. If today it is 252, that is 28 times as large as 9, so that would mean an inflation since 1913 of 2800%, or our dollar is worth a 28th of what it bought in 1913. The CPI in 1986 when the first Silver Eagles were produced was 109, meaning that in the past 32 years, we have had over a 50% decline in dollar value. Ouch! A Hershey Bar in 1913 was two cents.
Getting back to the Silver Eagle: It is a beautiful coin. The obverse is the Adolph Weinman Liberty Walking design, which was used on the silver half dollar from 1916 through 1947. His initials are on the hem of the gown. On the mid right is the phrase “In God We Trust.” On the reverse is a rendition of John Mercanti’s Heraldic Angel, with thirteen stars above the Eagle’s head, designating the original 13 Colonies. Silver Eagles are .999 pure silver, and some are worth more than others depending on their mint date. The initial issue was a bit over 5 million, and that figure stayed about the same until 1999, when demand made the figure go up to 7 million, then 2000, 9 million, and it’s gone up since. The lowest production year was 1996 when only a bit over 3 million were struck, and these have a premium value today. U.S. law states that no coin may be designated in dollar value unless it is produced by the U.S. Mint. The Silver Eagle, on the reverse says it is, “One Dollar.”
While the Silver Eagle is a beautiful coin, it is currently $2.20 over the spot price of silver, making it the most expensive one ounce silver coin. Why? That answer is quite simple: (1) No government does anything efficiently, and this includes making coins of gold and silver. (2) Employees at the U.S. mint in West Point New York are unionized. That is why they are so expensive. Are they worth it? In my opinion, probably not, although admittedly, a U.S. coin struck by the U.S. Mint does give it a bit or authenticity if purity needs to be guaranteed above a coin’s stamped purity. Silver Eagles come in what are called “Mint Boxes from the U.S. Mint. Each ‘Mint Box’ has 500 ( 25 tubes of 20) Silver Eagles in it and the date is stamped on the outside of the box. Many of our customers buy ‘mint boxes’ of Silver Eagles or other silver coins, as they are tightly boxed, easily stored, and will never tarnish. Other coins on our web site are, to me anyway, equally as beautiful or even more so, and are cheaper, also with .999 purity. My favorite is the ‘Silver Towne Buffalo’ which is 50 cents over spot, and is absolutely beautiful, with a mirror like shine on both sides. Go to the web site, find the ‘Buffy’ as we call them, and click on it with your mouse. You will see an enlarged drawing of both sides. The Obverse has the head of an Indian like the old nickels, and on the reverse is a buffalo. For 50 cents over spot they can’t be beat. Silver Towne makes a variety of one ounce silver coins at 50 cents over spot, or ten ounce bars at 40 cents per ounce over spot. All silver coins come in tubes of 20, and we don’t like to break up the tubes, so please order in lots of 20. Our supplier, for many years, has been A-Mark, probably one of the largest distributors of precious metals in the world, with offices in Europe as well as in the US. A-Mark bought the Silver Towne Mint in Indiana a couple of years ago, so they distribute to us directly from the mint, with no middle man. I love those silver ‘buffys’. Bonnie and I are taking a week or more off and going south, probably to Arizona and west Texas, to get a bit of time off where it is warmer than Western Colorado, although there are few days here in winter, when the temperature doesn’t go above 40, and we do have 300 days of sunshine a year. May not be a column next week.
. Don Stott 1-888-786-8822