The U.S. Mint recently announced that they will be producing the Silver Eagles bullion coins at the San Francisco mint as well as the West Point Mint this year. Their goal is to assist with meeting the extraordinary demand and take some of the pressure off of the West Point facility. Being that these coins will not bear an identifiable mint mark to differ them from those produced at the ‘W’ Mint, collectors are wondering how this release is going to develop.
The Mint has stated that they will only be shipping these coins to authorized purchasers in bulk packaging that identifies their origination. No figure as to how many ‘S’ coins will be produced.
NGC First to Announce an ‘S’ Label to Distinguish San Francisco Issues. Collectible Opportunity?
Since the ‘S’ Mint issues are only being sold to authorized purchasers, NGC is limited to only grading coins from bulk submissions still sealed in original packaging. Based on collector inquiries and overall coverage of this release, we feel this coin will be worth collecting. After all, this is the first time in the 26 year history of the Silver Eagle program for this to happen. Only time will tell, but when coins are struck at a different mint, sometimes there tends to be a slightly different strike or final product. Any visible distinguishing factors would give this issue a boost in collectible appeal.
The best Silver Eagle coin release this year is still expected to be the ‘W’ Burnished Die. After a two year lapse in production, these low mintage numismatic issues are certain to be highly demanded and sell out quick.
It is Thursday afternoon; October 27th as I write. The 25th Anniv. Silver Eagle Set has been released by the U.S. Mint. This set does in fact contain two coins that are products of San Francisco namely, the 2011-S Burnished Uncirculated Silver Eagle as well as the 2011 Bullion Silver Eagle specimen struck in San Francisco without the “S” mint mark. Aside from purchasing certified San Francisco bullion strikes and/or the 2011 25th Anniversary Set, there is no way of telling a raw San Francisco bullion specimen from a raw West Point Bullion specimen without mint mark origination. The 25th Anniv. Silver Eagle Set also includes two specimens that are products of West Point as well as the single 2011-P Reverse Proof Silver Eagle from Philadelphia. Enough said.
Stuart, were you able to get any sets from the Mint? It was nearly impossible to get through.
Sorry about this late date. To answer your question, yes…I was able to get through within the first 35 minutes of release. It was a rough go of it but as luck had it, it’s a miracle that I had just 1 set ordered. And, delivery came on Nov. 10th. The set is flawless; I regret I did not order 2 sets on the 27th. Oh well. I’m not letting it pass from my hands THIS TIME like I have with others in the past. Good luck and Godspeed. S.