Silver American Eagle

Goes Well With: Canadian Maple Leafs, Austrian Philharmonics, Mexican Libertad

The Silver American Eagle is the official silver coin of the United States government. Many silver buyers prefer this coin due to its familiarity and the guarantee of the United States government. In many minds, these facts trump the extra premium paid for these coins at the retail and wholesale level. Let’s look at these arguments in favor of holding Silver Eagles a bit closer.

First, it might be true that the Silver Eagle is quite recognized, but this fact is mostly true only amongst individuals who are already familiar with the silver retail products. These individuals, I would argue, would therefore be familiar with most silver retail products. Most people in the streets would not recognize a Silver Eagle, and, should the economy collapse leaving barter as the main means of transaction, then all silver would be immediately recognized by those struggling to survive, not Silver Eagles alone.

The second argument, also, has its flaws. Why trust anything simply because it comes with the explicit guarantee of the United States government? It is a truism in this day and age that the United States government is a terrorist organization, corrupting the public arena each and everyday with lies and deceit. Although today silver is still relatively cheap, I would not trust their content simply because the government mints them and stamps them “fine silver.” In fact, I distrust these coins because they are minted by the United States Mint, a functionary of the United States government.

If you are still only interested in purchasing Silver American Eagles, then seek out older dated ones. For instance, in 1986, the first year the coin was minted, silver was trading for a remarkably low price, thus making it unlikely that the government might need to short the .999 silver content.