By CoinWeek ….
This Sunday, November 3, bidding ends on GreatCollections.com for a perfect specimen of the key date West Point 1995 American Silver Eagle. It has been graded PR-70 by PCGS and given a DCAM (Deep Cameo) designation.
Back in 2013, GreatCollections famously sold another PR70 DCAM 1995-W Silver Eagle for the record price of $86,654 USD (including a 10% buyer’s premium). A startling price, but indicative of the intense demand Silver Eagle collectors have for the lowest mintage coin in the entire series. And that’s before one considers the fact that the 1995-W is a condition rarity, with most of the run showing numerous dings and other flaws.
As of late 2019, PCGS has graded 381 specimens at PR70, whereas only eight had been certified at the time of the March 2013 auction. It is quite clear that the high price commanded by the GreatCollections record holder encouraged dealers and collectors to submit their coins and try for a perfect grade, but after six years the percentage of the total available coins that have achieved this lofty status is barely greater than one percent.
More recent auctions show much more “attainable” prices.
In April of this year, an example sold for $9,600, while 2018 saw a perfect 1995-W go for $15,600. In 2017, several specimens were sold, all of which priced in the five-digit range. The lowest, which sold in March, went for $15,275; the highest, which sold in April, went for $22,326.
2015 and 2014 show similar, if even higher, results. January 2015 was that year’s winner, with a non-Cameo PR70 1995-W selling for $30,550. October and April are tied as the high-water mark for 2014 at $41,125 each. It’s worth noting that the lowest price on record for an example from 2014 is $33,166 – higher than 2015’s top number.
At the time of writing, the high bid for the 1995-W Proof Silver Eagle currently on offer is $10,800 after 20 bids.
Be sure to check GreatCollections for other sales of American Silver Eagles – or to check out how the other great coins that you need for your collection have performed. To do that, search through the GreatCollections Auction Archives, with records for over 600,000 certified coins the company has sold over the past seven years.
About the 1995-W
The American Silver Eagle is one of the most-collected modern silver coins actively produced in the world today.
Beginning in 1986, America’s preeminent silver bullion coin has been issued in Proof collector versions, with other varieties–such as Burnished and Reverse Proof coins–being issued later.
And out of 34 years’ worth of options for collectors and investors alike, the 1995-W American Silver Eagle Proof coin is widely considered the key to the entire series.
30,125 Silver Eagle coins were struck at the West Point Mint to accompany a limited edition set of Proof American Gold Eagle coins that was released in that year. Naturally, when a set also includes four gold denominations ($5 1/10th-ounce, $10 1/4-ounce, $25 1/2-ounce, and $50 1-ounce coins), it is an expensive proposition just for one coin, which is why such a low number of 1995-Ws were manufactured.
To add to the collector fervor, the issue is known as a condition rarity. But ever since the record-breaking 1995-W PCGS PR70 DCAM coin that sold at Great Collections set the highly publicized record price of $86,654.70, the PCGS certified population of PR70 DCAMs of this issue has expanded from eight to the present census of 381 pieces.
