The 2009 Silver Eagle (Buy on eBay) saw a carryover of some of the problems and issues that impacted the popular silver coin series in the prior year. High worldwide demand for precious metals bullion coins caused a continuing silver blank shortage for the United States Mint, impacting both bullion and collector offerings.
To start the year, the bullion coins continued to be subject to rationing under the previously established allocation program. Authorized purchasers of the coins were limited in the number that they were able to purchase. The rationing finally ended on June 15, when the U.S. Mint was able to meet full demand for the coins. Unfortunately, a new round of demand caused a brief suspension of bullion coin sales on November 25. When sales resumed, the allocation program was put back into effect.
Forced to Cancel
Because of the legal obligation to fulfill public demand for the bullion Silver Eagles, the U.S. Mint was forced to cancel the issuance of the 2009 Proof Silver Eagle and the 2009-W Uncirculated Silver Eagle. This was a great disappointment to many collectors and represented the first time in the history of the series that an annual collector version of the coin was not issued.
While collectible coins were canceled, brisk sales of bullion coins ensued, leading to the record high mintage of 30,459,000 for the 2009 Silver Eagle. This amount would be exceeded in subsequent years.
During 2009, the price of silver ranged from a low of $10.51 per ounce to a high of $19.18 per ounce. The cumulative average price for the year was $14.67.
2009 Silver Eagle Mintages
- Bullion Mintage: 30,459,000
- Proof Mintage: not minted
- Uncirculated (Burnished) Mintage: not minted
Coin Specifications
- Mint Mark: none (bullion)
- Designers: Adolph A. Weinman (obverse), John Mercanti (reverse)
- Composition: 99.93% silver, 0.07% copper
- Weight: 31.101 grams (1.000 ounces)
- Diameter: 40.6 mm (1.598 inches)
- Thickness: 2.98 mm (0.117 inches)
- Edge: Reeded
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