The design for the Silver American Eagle program began immediately after the staff, led by John Mercanti’s design, finished the Statue of Liberty - Ellis Island coin design. With this act, the Silver American Eagle bullion coin was born. This new legislation would provide investors a safe, simple means for investing in precious metals. The suspension of silver sales lasted for a couple of years until Senator McClure proposed the Liberty Coin Act - an amendment to the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Commemorative Coin Act, which passed and signed into law on July 9 th by President Ronald Reagan. Although the bills were never enacted, summer saw the price of silver soar when Secretary of the Interior James Watt announced the postponement of the federal silver selloff. They succeeded and, in 1982, Senator James McClure and Representative Larry Craig introduced identical bills in the Senate and House to provide issuance of silver coins. A group of politicians from Idaho, a major silver-mining state, set the wheels in motion to block the further sale of silver. Later that year, the spot price of silver and gold fell 11 percent. Many military-minded lawmakers protested as well.ĭespite all the opposition and bad press, the government sells portions of its silver in order to help balance the budget in the Spring of 1982. Many voices, not the least of which was the Wall Street Journal, protested the selloff arguing that it would ignite massive unloading of futures contracts in speculation that such a sale would depress prices. Consequently, administrations sought unsuccessfully to liquidate large portions of the nation’s stockpile. At this time, and up until President Reagan took office, the prevailing wisdom about silver as that its production far exceeded any strategic need for the metal. After more than 40 years, US citizens could legally own as much gold as they wanted. President Gerald Ford re-legalized the private ownership of gold near the end of 1974. The government held massive reserves of silver as part of the national-defense stockpile, but more about that in a moment. Just a few years prior, the precious metal silver was considered too expensive to use for coinage: the US Mints had stopped using silver in American Coinage in 1965. The Gold Reserve Act of 1934 changed the dollar value of gold from $20.67 to $35 per ounce, a price point that remained in effect till August 15, 1971, when President Nixon took the country off the gold standard entirely. Meanwhile, silver fluctuated between 30 cents and 90 cents an ounce. Throughout the 1930s and into the 1960s, the spot price of gold was pegged by the US Government at a steady $35 an ounce. The value of the gold held by the government tripled between 19. Millions of gold coins were delivered and subsequently melted into gold bars and stored at the Bullion Depository in Fort Knox. The order required all persons to deliver all gold coin, gold bullion, and gold certificates now owned by them to a Federal Reserve Bank on pain of criminal prosecution. President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 6102 which prohibited the hoarding of gold. The banking system was wounded and fragile throughout the early 1930s. Introduced as a silver investment vehicle, the seeds of the Silver American Eagle bullion program were actually planted as far back as the Great Depression. Now, bullion coins issued by governments the world over, are gaining a modern quasi-numismatic value because of their limited mintages, rarity, and condition. Bullion coins, like the South African Krugerrand and the Canadian Maple Leaf, are valued by its weight in a specific precious metal and are intended for investors seeking a simple and tangible means to own precious metals. The first release of the Silver American Eagle by the US Mint on November 24 th, 1986 was an instant success and has since become the most popular silver bullion coin in history with a guarantee for weight and purity from the US Government. Guaranteed by the United States Government for purity and content.Reverse: Mercant’s Heraldic Eagle | (since 2021) Emily Damstra’s wings spread Bald Eagle.Obverse: Weinman’s Classic Walking Liberty.
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