You might have read that the U.S. Mint surveyed purchasers of their 25th Anniversary American Silver Eagle sets to ask whether they would buy different options of the coins. Amongst the options surveyed include coins minted in Denver, reverse proofs, and a high relief coin.

Mint Director of public affairs Tom Jurkowsky was quoted by Numismatic New as saying, “Just because a question is presented doesn’t mean that a product would be offered.”

I was one of those asked by the U.S. Mint to participate in the survey. As I was answering the question I was excited because the American Silver Eagle is my favorite modern coin. Aside of being 40mm with one troy ounce of beautiful silver, Adolph A. Weinman’s Walking Liberty design is one of the best designs to be featured on a United States coin. With the John Mercanti designed heraldic eagle on the reverse, the coin screams of being an American coin.

Later in the day, I received a product notice from the Royal Canadian Mint for yet another non-circulating legal tender (NCLT) collectible. That is when I realized that the Royal Canadian Mint produces a lot of NCLT coins including ones that celebrate Canada with the use of the maple leaf. Don’t get me wrong, I love Canada. I collect Canadian circulated coins and I am a member of the Royal Canadian Numismatic Society. But the Royal Canadian Mint just produces too many products.

While I sometimes look at some of the RCM’s products and think that the U.S. Mint could produce coins of the same themes if congress would release their shackles, I also know that the overload of products from the RCM appears to cheapen their product offerings.

Additional American Silver Eagles would be nice, but I question whether adding additional options would push the U.S. Mint into overload? Even though the reverse proof American Silver Eagle is a beautiful coin, does it really have to be produced every year? What is wrong with producing the coin for special anniversary sets?

After seeing the reverse proof and the U.S. Mint’s previous high relief coin, I think they would produce a phenomenal coin. But why waste the design on an ordinary release. Why not wait until 2016 and produce a high relief American Silver Eagle to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the first release of the design on the Walking Liberty Half Dollar? That would make the high relief coin special. In fact, since it is beyond the 25th year of the design, why not produce the reverse of the 2016 high relief American Silver Eagle using the same reverse as the Walking Liberty Half Dollar?

I hope the excitement over the survey calms down and that cooler heads will prevail.

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