The 1986 Proof Silver Eagle was the first collectible version of the American Silver Eagle bullion coin issued by the United States Mint. The coins were authorized by the Liberty Coin Act, approved on July 9, 1985. This provided for the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue .999 fine silver coins with a weight of 31.013 grams and diameter of 40.6 millimeters. The initial source of the silver would be from the Defense National Stockpile.
The Act specified that the obverse of the coin would have a design symbolic of Liberty and the reverse would have an eagle. Required inscriptions were: "Liberty", "In God We Trust", "United States of America", "1 oz. Fine Silver", "E Pluribus Unum", and "One Dollar". The actual designs of the coins features Adolph A. Weinman's obverse design for the Walking Liberty Half Dollar issued from 1916 to 1947 and the reverse features a heraldic eagle with thirteen stars above designed by John Mercanti.
The 1986 American Silver Eagle Proof Coins were produced at the San Francisco Mint and carried the "S" mint mark on the reverse to the lower left of the eagle. The United States Mint sold these collectible coins directly to the public for $21.00 each. A total of 1,446,778 coins were sold, which would remain the highest sales total and mintage for all Proof Silver Eagles.
The proof coins were placed within a protective plastic, which fit into a purple velvet display case. The case was placed into an outer purple cardboard box along with a certificate of authenticity signed by the US Mint Director Donna Pope.
During 1986 the price of silver ranged from a high of $6.31 to a low of $4.85 per ounce.
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US $789.00
