The American Silver Eagle is the only official silver bullion coin minted by the United States.

First minted in 1986, the Silver Eagle is 99.9% pure silver and has a weight of one troy ounce. Although it has a face value of only a dollar, the American Silver Eagle is one of the coins which can be used as part of a Precious Metal IRA.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, there were pushes by several Presidential Administrations to sell off government stockpiles of silver. Throughout the twentieth century, the United States had added silver to the Defense National Stockpile and the Executive Branch had argued that the stockpile was much larger than the United States would need in an emergency. Sale-offs and planned sale-offs of part of the stockpile led to silver prices dropping dramatically.

It was among this backdrop that the agreement in 1981 to sell off 75% of the silver stockpiled by the government over three years was particular contentious. The Reagan Administration claimed the selling of silver was important to help balance the national budget, but lawmakers from states with large silver mines argued that the sale would harm the mining industry too much. Although the sale of silver began, it was blocked by legislation in 1982.

In 1983, those same legislators that blocked the original sale of silver proposed a bill that would instead direct the United States Mint to sale the silver stockpile through minted coins. The lawmakers felt like this would create less of a shock to the mining industry in the US. Finally, the law was passed and signed in the summer of 1985 and minting began in 1986. When the stockpile came close to depletion in 2002, the American Silver Eagle program was extended by an act of Congress.

Since 1986 the American Silver Eagle coins have been minted in San Francisco, Philadelphia, and West Point. San Francisco handled the minting from 1986 to 1998, West Point since 2001, and both Philadelphia and West Point in 1999 and 2000.

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Top 10 mistakes people make when buying gold:

10. Looking for a cheap price without understanding value
9. Dealing with multiple dealers
8. Short term expectations
7. Basing gold markets on stock markets
6. Lack of education
5. Not understanding premiums over Gold Spot
4. Knowing how much to invest
3. Not understanding Gold's value
2. Owning gold stock or ETF's instead of the Physical metal
1. Buying bullion instead of Rare Certified Gold

10 things gold dealers DON'T want you to know:

10. How dealers make money buying gold from you
9. The Value of History
8. The Value of Supply
7. The Value of Condition
6. The Value of a reputable Grading Company
5. Dealer mark up's
4. How to make money selling your coins
3. Which coins go up in value the fastest
2. The difference between common date, semi-rare date, and rare date coins
1. Why age of a coin does not determine its rarity

Making just 1 of these mistakes can easily cost you 10s of thousands of dollars. Educating yourself before you buy gold will allow you to move with confidence and avoid the nightmare stories you may have heard about buying gold from unprofessional and unreliable sources. If you sign up for The Gold Monitor now, you can receive a 1 year subscription absolutely free!

For a limited time the United States Gold Bureau is also offering new subscribers one Silver Eagle for FREE. You only have to pay $9.95 for shipping and handling. This is a limited time offer, so sign up today. We reserve the right to discontinue the offer at any time or to honor it only for legitimate investors considering a move in the precious metals market.