2010 American Silver Eagle

After the complete absence of proof silver eagles in 2009, the United States Mint was able to resume striking special collectors’ American silver eagles in 2010. While the numismatic community was glad to see the return of the proof American silver eagle, they were largely perturbed by the fact that many of their albums would have an open slot for a 2009 proof American silver eagle that never came to be. Additionally, no burnished American silver eagles were made in 2010.

On the minting front, things were even busier for the U.S. Mint from the standpoint of striking silver eagles than they were in the previous year. 34,764,500 uncirculated silver eagles were made in 2010, with an additional 860,000 proof specimens struck for coin collectors. In all, this put the total output of American silver eagles at an all-time record high (to that point), of more than 35 million pieces – far above and beyond production figures of a decade earlier.

The increased output was largely due to the growing demand from the investor circuit, which had grown weary of investing in stocks and had instead turned to silver, gold, and other precious metals as a way to hedge against losses in a tumultuous world economy.