The 2002 American Silver Eagles saw a huge increase in the total number sold for the bullion versions of the coin, but proof sales were not quite as impressive.
Silver edged up for the year with the average cost of an ounce of the precious metal coming in at $4.60. This was $.23 higher than it had been in 2001. Low point for 2002 occurred in January at $4.24 an ounce with the cost topping out during the middle part of the year in July reaching $5.10 an ounce.
Even with the fluctuations of the silver market, bullion Eagle sales came in at second best ever for the series up to that point. A total of 10,539,026 of the 2002-dated strikes were sold missing the record year of 1987 by 903,309 coins. Still, 2002 leapt ahead of the previous year by 1,537,315 strikes, or 17%.
Attributing greatly to that increase was an extremely impressive December. In that one month alone, the US Mint sold a total of 2,490,000 bullion Eagles making it the third best month ever for the coins since their debut – up to that point.
Below is a table showing the monthly totals for bullion coins sold (this table reflects only the total number of coins sold each month and may include strikes minted in other years):
2002 Bullion Silver Eagles Sold
| January | 913,500 | July | 740,000 | |
| February | 905,000 | August | 1,745,000 | |
| March | 797,000 | September | 550,000 | |
| April | 815,000 | October | 155,000 | |
| May | 495,000 | November | 175,000 | |
| June | 695,000 | December | 2,490,000 |
Despite the impressive results of the bullion Silver Eagles, the proof versions proved to struggle during the year. The Mint placed a mintage cap on the strikes of 750,000 when they released them on June 5, 2002. However, the total sold did not come close to that number.
Dropping from the previous year, only a total of 647,342 of the Proof Silver Eagles were sold. This showed a decline of 99,056 coins, or 13.3%.
The US Mint charged $24 per 2002 Proof Silver Eagle ordered – the same price as it had the previous year.
2002 Silver Eagle Mintages
| Bullion Mintage: | 10,539,026 |
| Proof Mintage: | 647,342 |
2002 Silver Eagle Specifications
| Weight: | 31.101 grams (1.000 ounces) |
| Diameter: | 1.598 inches (40.60 mm) |
| Thickness: | 0.117 inches (2.98 mm) |
| Composition: | 99.93% silver, 0.07% copper |
2002 Silver Eagle Design
| Mint Mark: | Bullion – None, Proof – ‘W’ |
| Edge: | Reeded |
| Obverse Designer: | Adolph A. Weinman |
| Reverse Designer: | John Mercanti |