US Silver Eagle Bullion Coin 1986 to Date

These are beautiful silver coins and they are they are worth their weight in silver. Computing an accurate value for them takes a little work. First, go to kitco.com and find the current price of silver. Let's say, by way of example, the price of silver is $20 US dollars per troy ounce. Be sure to look it up. It changes every day.

Each coin contains 1 troy ounce of silver. For our example, that's $20 worth of silver. Stated another way, $20 is the coin's Base Value (BV). Almost all Silver Eagles are worth BV, nothing more. Only when they are in superb numismatic (coin collector) condition are they worth more than BV.

Sometimes these coins appear in numismatic slabs. A sample slab appears in our second picture to the right. Coins slabbed by PCGS, NGC, ICG, and ANACS (not other brands) are usually worth more than BV, as follows:

circulated coins: BV
fully uncirculated coins: BV + $3
coins in numismatic slabs graded MS69: BV + $10
coins in numismatic slabs graded MS70: BV + $20

In almost all cases, specific dates and mint marks of these coins do not matter. There are a few exceptions. The 1996 silver eagle has a lower mintage than all the other dates, so it carries more value (about twice) than non-1996 issues.

Recently the US Mint has been marketing special issue coins labelled 'burnished' and 'enhanced.' Some collectors like these variations and and willing to pay more for them, maybe $10 or $20 more. The 2008W burnished coin with reverse of 2007 catalogs for $450. The 2011S burnished coin catalogs for $225. If you think you may have one of these high-value pieces, seek out a knowledgable collector or coin dealer for an in-person appraisal.

Further, if you have a proof US Silver Eagle, they carry different values than regular coins. See this CoinQuest page for an analysis of proof Silver Eagles.
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