It makes tremendous sense that the top 100 Greatest United States Modern Coins would include several American Silver Eagle issues. Why? Because the United States Mint is constantly innovating, constantly creating a first-ever to present to its collectors not only nationally, but internationally. As we continue to follow along with Whitman Publishing’s fourth edition, we will take a closer gander at a top 20 pick that features one of those Silver Eagles. Authors Jeff Garrett and Scott Schechter will take the wheel, of course, and show us all the details surrounding this next entry.
#18 – 2011-P $1 American Silver Eagle, Reverse Proof
The success of the 20th anniversary set of the American Silver Eagle pinned big hopes on the United States Mint and their plans for the 25th anniversary. However, when 2011 came around, collectors would wait and wait for the announcement, fearing that one may never come. It was not until August 2011 that Richard Peterson, Deputy Mint Director, would announce the 25th anniversary set and their plans to release it in October that same year.
In addition to the announcement in August, the Mint also unveiled the five coins that would be featured in the set. It included the following: 2011 American Silver Eagle (bullion coin without mintmark), 2011-W Proof American Silver Eagle, 2011-W Uncirculated (or Burnished) American Silver Eagle, 2011-S Uncirculated American Silver Eagle, and the 2011-P Reverse Proof American Silver Eagle. While collectors remained excited for the set, we would be remiss not to point out that three of the coins were already offered and sold individually before the 5-coin release. However, this did not seem to matter as much as the last two coins in the set were ONLY available in the set, including the first ever Uncirculated American Silver Eagle to feature an ‘S’ mintmark. In addition, the return of the Reverse Proof Silver Eagle was highly anticipated as the 2006 20th anniversary set would feature the first ever coin of its kind.
One of the biggest drawbacks to the release of the 5-coin set was its price. The Mint historically prices collector edition items high, and this set was no different. In addition to its mintage limit being set at 100,000 (which was lower than expected due to the success of the 20th anniversary set), the $299.95 price tag did not seem to deter collectors from selling out the product.