My first coin of the new year!

[jtryka]

I know it's no big deal, but I always get excited at my first coins with the new date, invariably the silver eagles that I order at the beginning of every year, so here it is!

 

[Hoot]

Always a great design to behold! I have not yet received the one coin purchased this year... Soon!

 

Hoot

[Rehit]

i bought 3.

1 each for the 2 grandchildren due to arrive in the next few days.

and of course one to keep for myself.

[jtryka]

The quality this year is a little disappointing, if you notice the little white specks across the center of the coin. I am not sure what they are, they don't seem to be bag marks, but more like discoloration in the metal itself.

[andy007]

If the white specks that you are referring to from the picture, those appear to be struckthroughs, and in person would appear as a minute, polished look inside of the specks, and are black rather than white. This is of course assuming that the angle of the picture makes the specks appear as white instead of black. If they are just light white spotting, that is common on every MS silver eagle, and seem to get worse as time and less than optimal storage goes on.

 

I have found that the 2004 silver eagles are really baggy on the letters this year.

 

On a side note, check out the finishes on the MS platinum this year, they did away with the contrasting surfaces and appear very much like matte finished pieces.

[spy88]

Jeff, spots and all, still a nice coin! Do you happen to know when they (the mint) will be doing, and shipping the proofs? Can't find any reference to the 2004 Silver Eagle PRs on their site or my subsciption page.

 

Thanks!

 

David

[MAULEMALL]

Jeff, spots and all, still a nice coin! Do you happen to know when they (the mint) will be doing, and shipping the proofs? Can't find any reference to the 2004 American Eagle PR sets on their site or my subsciption page.

 

Thanks!

 

David

Thats a ways off.I think sometime around August.

[jtryka]

Maul is right, it's a ways off. I believe the silver proof sets are in August, and the proof silver eagles are in May if I recall correctly.

[jtryka]

If the white specks that you are referring to from the picture, those appear to be struckthroughs, and in person would appear as a minute, polished look inside of the specks, and are black rather than white. This is of course assuming that the angle of the picture makes the specks appear as white instead of black. If they are just light white spotting, that is common on every MS silver eagle, and seem to get worse as time and less than optimal storage goes on.

 

I have found that the 2004 silver eagles are really baggy on the letters this year.

 

On a side note, check out the finishes on the MS platinum this year, they did away with the contrasting surfaces and appear very much like matte finished pieces.

 

Andy,

 

Thanks for the insight, it could just be bagginess, but it's odd as it appears in a band around the middle third of the surface. I don't think this is normal spotting. Another curiosity is that the rolls don't seem to fit this year. Despite my pressing hard on the lid, I still have about a 3/16 inch gap between the outer edge of the green top and the top edge of the white roll (I hope someone understands what I just said). Anyway, they've already made the trip to the vault so no more looking at them for now!

[michael]

wow jtry is that a really cool looking coin it looks like a matte proof!

 

myself after thinking about these coins the silver american eagles in mintstate and seeing the new one you posted 2004

 

i love them i am thinking about getting a set together of them with maybe one or two neatly toned examples

 

michael

 

 

[jtryka]

i love them i am thinking about getting a set together of them with maybe one or two neatly toned examples

 

I think that would be a lot of fun michael! I have all of the proof ones except for the 1995-W but that one is like $2000 so there are many more Saints I'll buy before I get to that one. I also buy a roll every year as well. I started the set in 1991, so from then on I have one roll os MS and one single proof from each year. Later, I went bank and filled in the proofs from 1986-90 and now all I need is 3 more rolls to complete the set. They are pretty affordable too (unless you want all MS-70/PR-70 coins). Most of the Unc. coins can be bought for less than $10, except for the 1986, and the 1996 (which is the key date). The Proofs are a similar story, most of the early ones (except the 88) are in the $30 range, as are the newest ones, (1-03). The tough proofs are the ones from the 1993-1997 period, and they can be about $100 or so. The proofs all have mintages under 1 million except the 1986, and now there is a mintage limit of 750,000 (it used to be 500,000), so not an oversized production like many modern coins. The other neat thing is to look at the earlier coins and see the production change at the mint, as the coins through 1991 are much bolder in strike and higher relief, the coins like this 2004 seem really flat by comparison. Certainly a fun and attainable set!

 

As for toned ones, good luck, as they are hard to find in my experience. I have one roll I just bought that had 2 lightly toned coins that were at the end of the roll. But even the coins I put away in 1991 are still bright white! If you find any, I doubt they will be that expensive since it doesn't seem like many people really collect silver eagles.

 

And just for fun, here is last year's proof model: