Earlier this year, a lot of people were asking the question, “When will the 2009 Silver Eagle Proof be on sale?”.  We got our answer on Oct 6th, when the US Mint announced their removal of the 2009 Silver Eagle Proof coin from their product line up for 2009.  The reasons cited were 1) unprecedented demand for the bullion coins and 2) the mandates Public Law 99-185 and Public Law 99-61 which direct them to produce the “bullion” version of the coin.

Unfortunately for all us collectors, the US Mint is hiding behind excuses to avoid producing the Proof and Burnished versions of the coin.  Yes, the demand is high for physical bullion. Both 2008 and 2009 have both seen over 20 million ounces of silver bullion coins produced. In 2008, the Mint cut the production of the Proof finish silver eagle much earlier than anticipated.  Due to the shortage of the Proof finish coin, the secondary market saw prices rise quickly to over $80 per coin. Now in 2009, they are not making even a single coin.  Since the beginning of the Silver Eagle program in 1986, both the Proof and Bullion finish were produced for sale to the public.  The Proof finish was intended for collectors and saw yearly production averages of over 400,000 ounces.  Reading the public law sections, it does mentions that the Mint must produce bullion coins to meet investor demand.  However, the term “bullion” was probably meant to indicate the bullion content of the coins.  A bullion coin is defined on Wikipedia as “a coin struck from precious metal and kept as a store of value or an investment, rather than used in day-to-day commerce”. The finish of the coin has no bearing on if it is a bullion coin or not.

2006 saw the introduction of a “Burnished” version of the Silver Eagle.  This new finish introduction along with the 1/2 ounce, 1/4 ounce, and 1/10 ounce coin sizes caused a major problem with their product line (production and consumer confusion).  After producing it for 2007 and 2008, the Mint underwent a collapsing of their product lines.  Removing a new product that has no sustainable demand is one thing, but removing a long standing tradition of Silver Eagle Proofs is another.  I see so many collectors angry enough at the Mint to sell their complete 1986-2008 silver proof sets.

If you want to be able to purchase a Silver Eagle Proof in the future, I suggest you write your senator and let them know to clarify the bill around bullion coin production.  Ask them to mandate the production of bullion coins in at least the Proof and Uncirculated finishes.