Interest grows in silver Eagles

Several emails have arrived over the course of the week from an individual who is actively collecting silver American Eagle coins.

His position is the more varieties of silver Eagles there are, the better.

Worse for me is that he says we do not publish enough information about silver American Eagles.

“He writes in one email, “The ASEs are the only coin you can add to your collection at a cost that is affordable to all ages. I am 72 years young and have given up all of the coins that you can’t show to the person you are going to leave it to so they can add to your collection and make it their collection.”

In another email he writes, “Did you know that the ‘W’ silver Eagle from the (2012) annual dollar coin set MS-70 is selling for $500? What other coin has sold for that in less than a year?

“Not even the 1995-W sold for that. There were 30,125 of the 1995-W and only 28,368 of the ‘W’ coin from the annual dollar set. Granted, if it were not certified it would be just another ‘W’ coin that 230,000 were minted in 2012, but that is what the American silver Eagle collector is living for.”

Obviously the writer is a fan of silver American Eagles as are many other collectors. Enthusiasm is a great thing in numismatics. Who can’t help but be attracted to it?

Before I received these emails I felt that a reasonable amount of space has been given to silver American Eagles in Numismatic News. The writer feels differently.

I can’t help but ask how he will feel about silver American Eagles if the secondary market ever turns against him. It can happen, as it has happened before, but more importantly, collectors have a wide variety of interests, which means a wide variety of topics must be covered over time.

For specialists in any area, the general coverage offered is not enough. That is why there are specialty organizations and references that take them into their chosen collecting areas in great depth.

Perhaps we will see a new specialty organization spring up to cater to collectors of silver American Eagles. Books are appearing and that is usually a good indicator that more organized hobby activity will follow.

Buzz blogger Dave Harper is winner of the 2013 Numismatic Literary Guild Award for Best Blog and is editor of the weekly newspaper "Numismatic News."