Mint ignores demand for silver Eagle proofs
I, like everyone else, feel it is totally ridiculous that the Mint will not make proof silver Eagles this year but are making proofs in other bullion metals.
I, like everyone else, feel it is totally ridiculous that the Mint will not make proof silver Eagles this year but are making proofs in other bullion metals. It is like biting the hand that feeds them, and I do not understand their rationale any more than in 1982 and 1983 when the Mint discontinued mint sets, which were a money-maker.
In 1995 we had two varieties of proof Eagles, but one was manipulated and only sold in gold sets. So if the gold is being made in proof, why not the silver? I don’t think we will see any more silver proof Eagles in years to come either.
If the Mint is complaining about how hard it is to make them this year, imagine next year when someone will be making 5-ounce silver quarters. Are these to be proof, uncirculated or both? Perhaps they will come up with the idea of making 5-ounce gold coins of both the Native American and presidential dollars to compliment the silver quarters.
I recently read that England has regular proof sets and also collector versions struck in silver. All the coins are made in silver, not just certain ones like ours. On certain occasions they make gold sets and some in double thickness called pieforts. All these things can be fun, but it gets more expensive all the time and more often than not, there is little resale value for these “freak” sets.
My joy of coin collecting was always finding things in change, not buying and buying. If the Mint really wanted to do us a favor, why not redesign the coins so the person featured on the coin would be identified?
I just returned from a trip to the Dominican Republic and their famous historical figures are all labeled and properly identified. The Dominicans were easy to identify too because if one didn’t know Spanish, one could easily identify the denomination of the coin with the bold numerals 1,5,10, 25, 50, etc. In our supposedly advanced country, only the presidential dollars identify the person and the denomination, the way that is proper.
If we are to ever have proof silver Eagles again with all the items the Mint is over-producing, it is time to do some trimming. I strongly suggest bumping the 1 cent and 50-cent, then the Mint might have more room to play around with their whims and we could still have the proof Eagles, perhaps even in 2- and 5-ounce versions, too. If the quarters are to be 5 ounces of silver, then why not 5-ounce silver Eagles as well?
I also do not understand why the reverse of the platinum Eagle gets redesigned and few people buy them, yet the silver is popular but does not get redesigned, nor now even issued in proof. This is the one most collectors can afford, but apparently the Mint doesn’t think so and has other plans as to what we should like, since, after all, they know best – or at least they think so.
Bob Olekson is a collector in Parma, Ohio.
Viewpoint is a forum for the expression of opinion on a variety of numismatic subjects. The opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of Numismatic News.
To have your opinion considered for Viewpoint, write to David C. Harper, Editor, Numismatic News, 700 E. State St., Iola, WI 54990. Send e-mail to david.harper@fwmedia.com.
More Resources:
• Subscribe to our Coin Price Guide, buy Coin Books & Coin Folders and join the NumisMaster VIP Program
