On Thursday, August 2, 2012, the United States Mint released collectible 2012-W Uncirculated American Silver Eagles for $45.95 each.
Although the price of the one ounce, 99.9% fine silver coin is the same as the 2011-dated issue, the newer one debuts $14.50 lower than the initial price of last year’s Eagle when it launched in September.
The reason for the lower fare is based on the current trend of silver. Presently, silver is averaging around $27 an ounce while last September it was nearly $41 an ounce.
Five Different 2012 American Silver Eagles
Under the American Silver Eagle umbrella of coins, the uncirculated coin comes as the fifth in the series this year. All of them share the same design but each version is slightly different — either by their finish, a mint mark, or the lack of a mint mark. This year’s predecessors were the bullion, the proof from West Point, the proof from San Francisco, and the reverse proof also from San Francisco. Bullion and proof coins have been around since 1986 but uncirculated Silver Eagles first appeared in 2006. The reverse proof is a special edition and has only been produced in three different years and sold in unique sets.
The newly released American Silver Eagles each have a "W" for West Point on the reverse, which is helpful because its uncirculated finish closely resembles that of bullion coins which do not have mint marks. It should be noted that the collector coins are struck on specially burnished blanks and the collector coin is neatly packaged within a protective clear plastic holder inside an attractive box along with a Certificate of Authenticity.
Proof coins differ from uncirculated because proofs have mirror-like finishes. On a typical proof, the designs are frosted and seem to float on the surface, but the reverse proofs are the opposite. They have frosted backgrounds and their designs are mirror-like.
American Silver Eagles have 1.598 inch diameters with thickness of 0.113 inches. They sport Adolph A. Weinman’s rendition of Walking Liberty on the obverse and John Mercanti’s eagle with shield on the reverse. Obverse inscriptions include IN GOD WE TRUST, LIBERTY and 2012 while the reverses are imprinted with UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 1 OZ. FINE SILVER and ONE DOLLAR inscriptions.
Ordering Uncirculated American Silver Eagles and Sales Expectations
Collectors may place orders for 2012-W Uncirculated American Silver Eagles directly with the U.S. Mint via the coin’s online product page or by calling 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468). A $4.95 standard shipping and handling fee applies to all domestic orders. There are no published household ordering limits. As always, the U.S. Mint reserves the right to re-price the coin at any time as needed.
Several hundred thousand of the coins are expected to sell. 436,702 sold in 2008, none were made available in 2009 and 2010, but 297,629 of the 2011-dated issue have sold and were still available at the time of this writing.
The U.S. Mint has already sold more than 19 million bullion American Silver Eagles since January 3, and collectors have purchased 526,806 of the 2012-W Proof American Silver Eagles since launching on April 12, 2012. Approximately 251,302 each of the collector San Francisco coins had been ordered in July, as part of the 2012-S American Silver Eagle Two-Coin Proof Set.
Upcoming Silver Eagle products from the U.S. Mint include next week’s release of the Making of American History Coin and Currency Set with a San Francisco proof Silver Eagle and the September launch of the 2012 Annual Uncirculated Dollar Coin Set with today’s discussed uncirculated Silver Eagle.
