2021 New Silver Eagle design

2020 was one hell of a year! It threw up unique challenges our way; some good and some.. preferably best forgotten! For the numismatists among us, 2021 is beckoning with a whole new array of coins. Chief among them is the New Silver Eagle coin with a great new reverse design.

Check out our complete selection of 2021 Type 1 & Type 2 continuity programs

American Silver Eagle coin - The journey

American Silver Eagle coin, the bullion coin of United States of America is considered one of the most beautiful and popular coins in the world. An obverse design borrowed from the earlier Walking Liberty design half dollar (struck from 1916 through 1947) designed by Adolph A. Weinman, it portrays a glorious Lady Liberty walking towards the rising sun, carrying branches of laurel and oak, symbolizing civil and military glory.

The reverse was designed by John Mercanti and portrays a heraldic eagle behind a shield; the eagle grasps an olive branch in its right talon and arrows in its left talon, echoing the Great Seal of the United States. Above the eagle are thirteen five-pointed stars representing the Thirteen Colonies. With such unforgettable designs, the coin is a numismatic icon!

Some key dates of the American Silver Eagle

The 1985 American Eagle program, approved under the Bullion Coin Act of 1985, led to the release of the inaugural version of the coins in 1986. Nearly 5.4 million coins were minted. First struck at the San Francisco Mint, these coins were available for only two months!

1993 marked the 200th Anniversary of the Philadelphia Mint and in celebration this is the first year that Proof Silver Eagles were minted in Philadelphia. 1995 marked the tenth year of the Silver Eagle. In celebration, collectors could choose from two different coins: The first was P-Mint Proof. The second, and considerably rarer coin, was the W-Mint Proof. 1996 was the lowest mintage for the Silver Eagle bullion series (only 3,603,386 coins), and the entire mintage sold out!

The 2000 Millennium Coinage and Currency Set, had a mintage of only 75,000 sets and it was sold out very quickly. 2006 marked the 20th Anniversary for the Silver Eagle, and the special set for the anniversary sold out in only 2 weeks! A small number of 2008 Silver Eagles were struck using the reverse dies of the 2007 coins and called the 2008-W Silver Eagle Reverse of 2007. In 2011, the U.S. Mint created a special five-coin set to mark 25th Anniversary milestone for the program and these were sold out within hours of release!

In 2013, for the 75th anniversary of U.S. Mint facility at West Point, the mint released a set with the Silver Eagle in three contrasting finishes: mirrored brilliant, light frosted and heavy frosted. In 2015, Silver Eagles were struck at the Philadelphia branch Mint instead of West Point which was discovered through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request and these are considered premium coins. In April 2020, the Philadelphia Mint struck 240,000 brilliant uncirculated bullion American Silver Eagles due to complications arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a key date too.

The new design revealed

The United States Mint revealed the new reverse design of the American Silver Eagle coin on October 1, 2020. Although the original plan was to begin production in the beginning of 2021, circumstances surrounding the pandemic severely limited the U.S. Mint's capacity to produce coins. As a result, they had to continue with the old design well into 2021 and the bullion coin with the new design is scheduled to be released in July 2021 to the Mints authorized distributors.

The new reverse design is a fresh approach to an exemplary coin and a much-loved design. The reverse still features a bald eagle. The bald eagle is about to land from a flight. The eagle grasps an oak branch between its claws, perhaps to build its nest. The words "United States of America" "One Dollar" "1OZ. Fine Silver" and "E Pluribus Unum" are placed along the outside edge of the coin design split between the wings of the eagle. This reverse design was crafted by Emily Damstra, a member of the Mint’s Artistic Infusion Program (AIP), and was sculpted by Mint artist Michael Gaudioso.

Collectors world-wide are eagerly anticipating the release of this new design. The American Silver Eagle has been a staple in the numismatic community and a benchmark for all other coin designs since its inception. This redesign truly does mark the end of an era, as well as the completion of one of the most historic coin programs the U.S. Mint has ever produced. We can't wait to see what they have in store for this new type 2 design. With emerging coin technologies, new finishes like the enhanced reverse proof and iconic anniversary sets the type 2 will set a new standard in the numismatic community!