American Silver Eagles have been minted in the United States since 1986. These are the official silver bullion coins of the United States, guaranteed to contain one troy ounce of silver that’s 99.9% pure. A troy ounce is actually slightly heaver than a typical ounce of weight, because it’s not measured by weight but rather by grains. A grain is a unit of measure used where absolute precision is crucial, as in archery to weigh arrow heads, and in ballistics to weigh powder and bullets. An ounce is between 28 and 29 grains, and is a very specific number that goes out to 9 decimal places. A troy ounce is over 31 grains, in a number that goes out to 7 decimal places. A troy ounce is the measurement always used for black powder, precious metals and gemstones.

Silver Eagles have their one troy ounce weight and silver content certified by the United States Mint, and are authorized by the US Congress. A proof version of these coins is produced specifically for collectors. These coins have been produced by three mints. Coins marked with a P were minted in Philadelphia, with earlier coins bearing an S for San Francisco and the most recent silver coins marked with a W on the reverse side, which stands for West Point.

The front or obverse of Silver Eagles is based on the “Walking Liberty” design that appeared originally on half-dollars minted between 1916 and 1947. Designed the Adolph Weinman, it became a favorite and one of the best-loved coin designs in American history, so it was chosen for the Silver Eagles. The back or reverse of the coins feature a heraldic eagle.

The face value of Silver Eagles is $1, but the silver content causes the value of these coins to vary with the markets. Because of the different minting, it’s best to look into reference books to find the value of any coins you’re interested in purchasing. Because these coins have been struck in such huge numbers, the value is often not as high as one might expect, even for proofs. Most can be purchased for $25, with that number fluctuating along with the silver market prices. Some years with lower minting can go for over $100, and the boxed anniversary set issued in 2006 that went for $100 each now commands over three times that, because only 250,000 were created. Some rare dates can cost thousands of dollars, but without an up to date reference book it’s difficult to know which are more valuable.

When looking at Silver Eagles do your research and become familiar with the more rare coins, and those which can be found almost anywhere. As with most things, eBay is an excellent source for Silver Eagles of the more rare varieties. One good strategy for investors is to buy the current year’s Silver Eagles and work your way backwards through the years. This can make the collecting more fun and interesting, and give you time to investigate the more valuable minting and dates.

Originally posted 2008-12-14 14:00:32. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Coins & Paper Money -> Bullion -> Silver

People buy silver bullion coins for a few different reasons. Some buy them because of the precious metal content as an investment and buffer against inflation. Some people buy them because they fear that one day our popular currency will become worthless, and they want to be prepared with the only kind of money that would likely be worth anything in that case. They know they could use gold and silver coins to barter for goods and services if paper money were repudiated. And some buy bullion coins because they’re coin collectors and they want to add these brilliant pieces to their collections.

If you want to buy silver bullion coins for investment purposes, then your true investment in the silver lies in not how many coins you buy necessarily, but how many ounces of silver you end up owning because of those coins. In this case, it doesn’t matter if the coins can be used as currency, so foreign coins which contain high amounts of silver are as good an investment as United States coins, or vice versa, depending on where you live. The age of the coins is irrelevant, too.

Silver bullion coins minted since 1965 contain stamps showing the purity of the silver within them and the silver coins pre-dating this do not, but that makes them no less valuable as an investment. Many people think the only silver bullion coins used in the US are dollars like the 1 ounce American Eagle, which is a popular collector’s coin. But before 1965, several types of coins contained 90% silver, like dimes, quarters and half-dollars. These and coins like the American Silver Eagle, which contains 1 ounce of pure silver, are a good investment and in a worst-case scenario where the value of paper money dropped substantially, these coins could be used as money.

Survivalists who invest in silver bullion coins typically purchas as many coins dating since 1965 as possible. They believe that it’s likely that one day our money system will collapse and the only real currency that one could survive on would be silver and gold bullion. Since the silver content is stamped on each coin produced since 1965 showing that it’s an ounce of pure silver, they believe that it will be easier to get people to accept those coins as payment in the event of a financial collapse. For these purposes, they’ll typically buy $1000 face value bags, or bags in smaller increments, rather than individual coins.

For collectors, the earlier coins are often considered junk coins, because they have little numismatic worth. Silver bullion coins for collectors are typically silver proofs or coins in Brilliant Uncirculated condition, only if they really want the coin and can’t acquire a mirror-like proof. If you’re looking on eBay for collector coins, a popular place to find them, you’ll need to do some research on the individual silver coins so you can tell the difference between BU and proofs, as often they look similar.

Photo Credits: hardwarehank

Originally posted 2008-10-27 14:00:50. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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