2011 Proof Silver Eagle Suspended for Price Increase, Uncirculated Price Announced

The United States Mint suspended sales of its most popular numismatic coin, the 2011-W Proof Silver Eagle. When sales resume, which is expected to be soon, the new price will be $68.45, or $8.50 more. The increase relates to the upcoming 2011-W Uncirculated Silver Eagle that will debut for $60.45 in September.

[Editor’s update: The U.S. Mint placed the proof back on sale in the afternoon on Monday, August 29, at $68.45.]

The Wednesday, August 24, suspension followed behind the Friday, August 19, sales halt of two silver sets. That occurred when the precious metal surged to $42 an ounce. On Thursday, the 25th, the Mint resumed sales of the sets but not the coin.

Silver prices fell $3.08 on the London Fix from $42.08 on Wednesday to $39.00 on Thursday, which was enough to free the Mint to make the 2010 Silver Proof Set and 2010 America the Beautiful Quarters Silver Proof Set available at their pre-suspension prices. They are $64.95 for the Silver Proof Set, which includes 1.338 ounces of silver, and $39.95 for the America the Beautiful Quarters Silver Proof Set, which has 0.904 ounces of silver.

Sales of the Proof Silver Eagle remained suspended over the weekend. Customers visiting its online product page saw a notice stating, "This product is temporarily unavailable for product repricing."

When the proofs arrived on June 30, the London Fix listed the price of silver at $35.02 an ounce, and the United States Mint introduced it at $59.95. In the official press release, the Mint stated, "Due to the high volatility in the market price of silver, this price may be subject to change."

And change it will. According to a notice published by the Mint in the Federal Register, it will raise the price of the proof coin from $59.95 to $68.45. With the published $8.50 price increase, it is very likely sales will resume as early as Monday.

The introduction of the next American Eagles added reasons for the price increase. Two new products will be hitting the market soon — the 2011-W American Silver Eagle Uncirculated Coin and the 5-coin 25th Anniversary American Silver Eagle Set.

Originally, the United States Mint announced the release of the West Point minted uncirculated Silver Eagle for September 29, but that launch date has already been bumped up to September 15. This date, too, is subject to change.

Since proof coins are generally priced higher than their uncirculated counterparts, the uncirculated Silver Eagle would have been priced much closer to its melt value if the Mint did not raise prices. Without the proof’s price increase, the uncirculated coin would have likely been $51.95 or $53.95, based on past price spreads between it and the proof.

To apparently avoid the smaller premium and lack of wiggle room should market conditions change again, the United States Mint recently published $60.45 as the price for the uncirculated Silver Eagle.

The price for the 5-coin 25th Anniversary American Silver Eagle Set, on the other hand, has not yet been released. The special limited edition set is estimated to be available sometime in late October. More details will come as its launch date approaches. With a cap of 100,000 units, some collectors will be willing to pay a heftier price for five Silver Eagles, especially if two of them remain unique to the set. The San Francisco 2011-S Silver Eagle Uncirculated Coin and the Philadelphia 2011-P Silver Eagle Reverse Proof Coin have only been announced as a part of the set, as of this writing. The other three coins are the 2011 bullion Silver Eagle and 2011-W Proof Silver Eagle, which are already on the market, and the 2011-W Uncirculated, which as mentioned earlier, is coming in September.

American Silver Eagle coins contain one troy ounce of .999 fine silver. Collectors had purchased 716,328 of the proofs as of Monday, August 22.