2020 Philadelphia Silver Eagle

The American Silver Eagle is the Silver bullion of United States and was first released by the United States mint on November 24, 1986. The Bullion Silver Eagles do not have a mint mark. They have been released every year from 1986 through this year 2020. The San Francisco mint was the first to mint bullion coins from 1986 to 1999. The West Point mint also produced the coins from 1988 to 1998. From 2001, they have been minted only in the West Point mint. Mostly!

A Freedom of Information Act filed by NGC and the Coin World in 2017, brought forth information that the San Francisco and Philadelphia mints have also produced the American Silver Eagle coins between 2014 and 2017. Again, now in 2020, American Silver Eagles have been produced in the Philadelphia mint to support reduced production in West Point mint.

2015 American Silver Eagle

The U.S mint revealed that almost 17 million American Silver Eagles have been minted in Philadelphia from 2014 to 2017, out of which 79,640 were minted in 2015. The only distinguishing factor for these coins were their 5-digit serial numbers on the green monster boxes between 10001-10159. The only way to confirm if it is an authentic Philadelphia mint Silver Eagle is to send in one of these sealed monster boxes to a grading service. Once the sealed strap is broken, however, the Silver Eagles become indistinguishable and can no longer be certified authentic.

The 2015 American Silver Eagles from the Philadelphia mint were hot and certified authentic versions got sold at a premium.

2020 American Silver Eagle

This year because of the pandemic, from April 8 to April 20, the U.S. Mint added Silver American Eagle production to Philadelphia. This was done so that the production could be reduced in several facilities to reduce the risk of employee exposure to COVID-19. Silver and gold American Eagle production were resumed at the West Point Mint on April 21 after being shut down on April 15.

According to U.S. Mint officials, the 240,000 American Eagle silver bullion coins were minted in Philadelphia to support the West Point mint. They were all packaged manually for the authorized purchasers who bought the coins. Box tracking numbers 400,000 through and including 400,479 were used on boxes of coins minted in Philadelphia. The monster boxes each contain 25 tubes of 20 coins, for a total of 500 coins in each box.

Even before the surprise American Silver Eagles from the Philadelphia mint, the 2020 American Silver Eagle was all set to become a key date to collect. Irrespective of the production mint facility! The reason - the redesign of the 2021 American Silver Eagle reverse! Considering that the U.S. mint will be redesigning the 2021 American Silver Eagles reverse and improving on the security features, the 2020 Silver Eagles will mark the end of an era: The Heraldic Eagle reverse! Former United States Mint Chief Engraver John Mercanti created the reverse design for the first ever Silver Eagle in 1986, and it has remained there ever since. Collectors get new options because of these developments. A collection comprising of 1986 to 2020 coins, special 2015 and 2020 coins from Philadelphia, collection of coins from 2021 onwards with the new reverse.