The United States of America mines more silver than any other country, so a lot of silver was used to store in the Defense National Stockpile. But during the 1970’s and 1980’s several administrations tried to sell off the silver from the Defense National Stockpile because the domestic production far exceeded the use that’s when an executive order was issued to use the silver to produce American silver eagle coins.
The American Silver Eagle was released by the United States Mint on November 24, 1986 as the official silver bullion coin of the United States. The weight and purity of the American eagle coins is certified by the United States Mint and it has 99.9% pure silver. The silver bullion coins have a nominal face value of one dollar and it is made only in the one-troy ounce size. The Silver Eagle is produced only at three mints across the United States: the Philadelphia Mint, the San Francisco Mint and the West Point Mint.
The coin’s design was taken from the “Walking Liberty” design by Adolph A Weinman that was originally used on the Walking Liberty Half Dollar coin from 1916 to 1947. Since this design was a public favorite, the United States revived this design for the Silver Eagle’s obverse side. The coin is inscribed with the year of minting and the word LIBERTY and also the phrase IN GOD WE TRUST is inscribed on the obverse side. The reverse side of the coin was designed by John Mercani and has the heraldic eagle behind a shield. The Eagle will be grasping an olive branch in its right talon and the left talon hold arrows. Above the Eagle there are thirteen five-pointed stars and the phrases “United States of America”, “1 oz Fine Silver-One Dollar” are inscribed. The silver coins are usually used to fund individual Retirement Account investments.
However, since the striking of the first American silver eagle bullion coin on 29 October 1986, there has been plenty of changes. Though the executive order was passed to deplete the excess silver in the National Defense Stockpile slowly over the years, in 2002 it was discovered there was depletion in the stockpile and further legislations were passed to continue with the program. In 1995 on the 10th Anniversary, The US minted a special “1995-W Proof Silver Eagle,” the coin was sold only as part of the “10th Anniversary American Eagle Five Coin Set”. In the year 2000, “United States Millennium Coinage and Currency Set” was released. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the American Silver Eagle bullion coins in 2006, a special “Reverse Proof Silver Eagle” coin minted at Philadelphia was issued.