American Silver Eagles

American Silver Eagles have been the official silver bullion coin of the United States since its first release in 1986. It is only ever struck with a face value of one dollar and carries one troy ounce of .999 pure silver. It is authorized by the US Congress and backed by the US Mint for both weight and content. The coin is minted in the U.S. Mint's West Point, New York facility,

Each coin contains one troy ounce of pure silver and measures 1.598" (or 40.6mm) in diameter with a thickness of .117" or 2.98mm. They are impressively large and substantial coins and are America's only official investment grade silver bullion coins.

It is also legal tender in the US although hardly likely to be used as such since the value of the silver in the coin heavily outweighs the face value.

The obverse design is based on the U.S. "Walking Liberty" half dollar, which was originally minted in 1916 and designed by the German-immigrant sculptor Adolph Alexander Weinman. He was the designer of the famous U.S. "Mercury" dime, also introduced in 1916. The reverse side of the coin features a bald eagle and shield, with 13 stars, representing the 13 original American colonies, positioned above the eagle's head.