American Silver

Silver Eagle Prices: Remember When The American Silver Eagle Commanded A 400% Premium?

“2011 American Silver Eagle: 5 Reasons Why You Should Buy This Silver Coin” is the title of an article I recently published, in which I listed some important advantages of owning the American Silver Eagle Coin. (Search for the title in Google in quotes, you’ll find the link to it).

In the article, I listed 5 top reasons to buy this lovely silver coin. One reason was the wonderful profit potential. At the time the article was written, silver was trading over $30 an ounce. (With the recent pullback in price, now is a wonderful opportunity to buy!)

Something I wanted to touch upon in this new article is something that I think new investors aren’t aware of. And that is that the American Silver Eagle has, in the past, commanded extraordinary premiums. Premiums that went above and beyond those of other similar silver Bullion Coins.

Read on and you’ll learn a very interesting history lesson about Silver Eagle desirability!

In late 1999, around the time of the “Y2K” scare, many of you who are reading this article probably weren’t investing in American Silver Eagles.

And so you probably aren’t familiar with the unique situation that developed around that time.

At the time this article was written, bullion dealers are quoting a buy price for 2011 American Silver Eagles at a range from $1.70 to $2.10 for 500 oz. The buy price depends upon whether or not the box is still sealed.

This price range is about normal for a typical trading day.

This was not the case at the end of 1999. This was the peak of the Y2K scare. This was the time when many people thought that at the stroke of midnight on January 1, 2000, the financial system was going to stop functioning.

We can laugh about it now but at the time that fear was very real!

At that time, the spot price of silver was hovering around $6.50.

But guess what? American Silver Eagle coins were fetching prices up to $12.50 an oz.! It was unreal!

At the same time, an equally beautiful silver Bullion Coin – the Canadian Silver Maple Leaf – was only fetching a price of $7.50. And it has a higher silver purity?

You’re probably wondering why there was such a difference in price.

Was it because there was less supply of the Silver Eagle?

Nope.

Both coins were readily available.

Investors were paying the huge premium for the Silver Eagle and not the Silver Maple Leaf was because they believed that the Eagle would be the coin that would be accepted more easily for bartering. Bartering that might be necessary if the banking system wasn’t functioning normally.

And this belief stemmed from the fact that the American Silver Eagle coin has a U.S. government guarantee and is recognized all across the world.

As you might imagine, once the “Y2K” scare was over, the premiums on Silver Eagles returned to normal. But, anyone smart enough to have sold during this time would have profited tremendously to say the least!

You’re probably wondering if this was a onetime event.

Right now, the economy seems to be okay but there are still risks, as any financial expert will tell you.

If, for whatever reason, we had a widespread financial panic of some sort, would the Silver Eagle be the silver coin of choice?

And once again fetch a large premium above that of other silver bullion coins?

No one knows for sure.

I can only quote the words of Mark Twain: “The past doesn’t repeat itself, it rhymes.”

About the Author

Christina Goldman has been collecting and investing in silver and gold bullion since 1999. She believes that everyone should invest at least ten percent of their savings in either gold or silver, for diversification, wealth preservation and currency protection.

American Silver Eagles

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