Gerard LeBlond Describes The Silver American Eagle

Hello:

This is LeBlond, Gerard LeBlond and consider this question:

"What has a face value of 1 U.S. dollar but is worth a lot more than 1 U.S. dollar?"

There are lots of answers for that question but...

The one I'm focussing on is:

"The 'Walking Liberty' Silver American Eagle U.S. Dollar"

It's considered by many collectors to be the most beautifully designed of all American coins.

It is collected as a bullion coin and if market forces ever jump into play each of these coins could some day be worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars!

Let's consider front and back designs, mint marks, weight, composition, edge type, thickness and diameter.

OBVERSE (Front) DESIGN: The Walking Liberty design was created by artist Adolph A. Weinman and appeared originally on the U.S. 50 cent pieces minted between 1916 and 1947.

The word L I B E R T Y arches across the top of the coin with the "E" at appoximately the "11:50" clock-face mark. The "L" would be at about the "8:00" mark and the "Y" at the "3:30" position.

There is a stylized rendition of the sun near the horizon (located near the 'bottom' of the coin) with rays eminating from that star's 2-dimensional surface edge. The sun appears to be either rising or setting behind a mountain range.

Liberty is represented by a long ankle-length robed female appearing to be in mid stride as she 'walks' from right to left. She is enveloped in folds of the flag.

Lady Liberty's left foot is sandled and planted flat against the horizon. Her right foot has it's heel raised and the toes bent and to the 'ground'.

The female form appears to hold a long bouquet of leafy laurel and oak branches in her bent-at-the-elbow left arm.

The billowing left-arm sleeve covers most of her arm down to her wrist.

Her right arm is raised to shoulder level and extends almost straight out, with a slight bend at the elbow, so that her hand is open and is positioned between the letters "I" and "B" of the word LIBERTY. That arm is back-dropped by the "star-field" of the billowing flag that serves as a type of patriotic shawl.

The motto "In God We Trust" is stamped between Lady Liberty's right calf and the letter "Y" of LIBERTY.

The date of mintage is positioned directly below, and centered under Lady Liberty's left foot.

REVERSE (Back) DESIGN: Ever hear the phrase: "Spread Eagled"? It means wings spread wide open and on the reverse side of this incredibly gorgeous coin is the image of a bald eagle with wings wide-open and sporting a shield on it's breast.

The design is called an 'heraldic eagle' and the creature clutches arrows in its left talon and an olive branch in the right one.

Using a magnifying lens I was able to count 6 distinct arrow heads and 12 leaves on the olive branch.

The eagle appears to hold the center of a banner in its beak that reads: 'E Pluribus Unum'.

Above the eagle's head is an array of 13 'five-pointed' stars in an inverted pyramid design.

Circling the outer perimeter of the coin's edge are the words: U N I T E D S T A T E S O F A M E R I C A 1 O Z . F I N E S I L V E R ~ 1 D O L L A R

There is a superscript period (dot) between 1 oz. and UNITED and between AMERICA and DOLLAR.

The artist who designed this side of the coin's artwork is John Mercanti and the initials JM appear in tiny print in a region framed by the heraldic eagle's left talon and the left-most tail feather.

MINT MARKS: No mint marks except for proof versions of the coin which bear a "W" for the West Point Mint.

COMPOSITION: 99.93% Silver (Ag) and 0.07% Copper (Cu)

DIAMETER: 40.6 mm or 1.598 inches

THICKNESS: 2.5 mm or about 1/4 of an inch

WEIGHT: 1.0000 troy ounce or 31.101 grams of which 0.999 troy ounces is silver;

EDGE TYPE: Reeded edge

The presence of the copper makes the coin more durable than would be the case with 100% silver.

This also means that the coin is made of a Silver/Copper alloy.

Some jewelry merchants have Silver American Eagles hand painted with red, white and blue paint on the obverse side so they can sell them at a higher mark-up than undecorated ones.

From Sell Info Products Online dot com this is LeBlond, Gerard LeBlond and I'll see you there.