1996 price is inflated I think. The mintage is only about 15 percent smaller than second and third rarest. It's just the idea 1996 has the smallest mintage so people buy it on impulse. I don't think it's a rare coin in any state besides 70 which is really rare.
They started on day one. Prior to 2000 the business strike ASE's were minted in Philly. Starting in 2000 the coins were minted at West Point (The Millennium Sets COA even stated the coins were struck at West Point) but they had no mint marks on them. But it became common knowledge very quickly, so quickly that ICG even labeled their slabs as such putting the W in parentheses (W) to indicate that the coins were minted at West Point. It was a huge marketing ploy, and the mint loved it because collectors bought them like hot cakes. Answers are debatable depending on who you ask. Some think yes some think no. But I think there is little doubt that the mint was well aware of what the reaction of collectors would be and did what they did quite deliberately. They're out there, in huge numbers. But to 90-95% of the numismatic community all of the American Eagle coins in any form or mint mark are nothing but chunks of bullion. So not all that many shops bother to stock them, well, other than the regular business strikes.
Quite possible Mike, but I believe too that there are more and more collectors getting into the series every year and a lot of them want their eagles holdered. Vying for the higher number on the slab drives the prices up. Just a humble collectors thoughts......
yes, Ken, but as the prices of the 50-D rose for over a decade, eventually the market died for them when people realized how dirt common they are. Now they're readily available in junk boxes. I think that 30 years from now these slabs will also be worthless because they will equate to raw ones in value
I think it depends what the price of silver does, if it goes way up then the premium on the better date and graded silver eagles will go down. (the overall price will still be up, but the premium over spot will be down) If the price stays fairly stable I think they will continue to go up in value/premium.
There are so many SAEs that grade MS-69 and 70 that the value of these coins will never be able to sustain long term. There are just too many of them out there and a HUGE supply of coins that would and could potentially grade the same. There will never be enough collectors to create enough demand to sustain a market for these coins long term. I refer you again to the 1950-D Jefferson Nickel
Folks also need to remember that the "Internet" did not exist in 1986 at the capacity that it's at today and as such, the US Mint was not in any position to set up a sales procedure for handling 5, 10, 25, 50 coin Silver Eagle Orders. I expect that the "Dealer Network" was designed into the Law with this specifically in mind. Up until the mid-90's, the US Mint did not handle "electronic" orders. When these bullion pieces were announced in85/86, expectations were extremely high since everybody loved Weinmans Walking Liberty Obverse AND it represented the First time that a Classic Coin Design was re-introduced onto Modern coinage! I know I made a special trip on the day they were released and paid $7.50 for each 1986 SAE!