The 2005 American Silver Eagles marked the third year in a row in which both the proof and bullion versions of the coin showed improvements (even if only slight) over the numbers sold in the previous year.
Bullion Silver Eagles sold a total of 8,891,025 from the US Mint of the 2005 dated coins. This was an increase of only 8,271 strikes , or about a tenth of a percent. Still, this was enough to edge the previous year out as the fifth best annual sales for the Eagle up to that point.
Silver continued its almost meteoric rise in the year with the average coming in at $7.32 an ounce. The precious metal had been climbing since hitting bottom back in 2001 at an average of $4.37 an ounce. The increases were slow and steady the first few years following that with 2002 raising the average price of silver by $.23 an ounce and 2003 by $.28. 2004, however jumped significantly by $1.79 an ounce to $6.67.
The lowest silver reached in 2005 came in January when it averaged $6.39 an ounce on the 4th of that month. The high occurred on the 12th of December when it achieved $9.23 an ounce.
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):
2005 Bullion Silver Eagles Sold
| January | 1,095,000 | July | 355,000 | |
| February | 500,000 | August | 615,000 | |
| March | 650,000 | September | 725,000 | |
| April | 480,000 | October | 400,000 | |
| May | 315,000 | November | 725,000 | |
| June | 400,000 | December | 2,145,000 |
Proof Silver Eagles also showed an increase on the previous year with the total sold by the Mint of the 2005-dated proofs coming in at 816,663. This was an increase of 15,061 coins, or 1.9%.
Aiding these numbers were two decisions made by the Mint. First, the strikes were released on March 15, 2005 – six weeks earlier than the Mint had released the 2004 version of the coin making them available for a longer period of time.
Second, the Mint removed the mintage cap seen on Proof Silver Eagles in the previous years. That cap had fluctuated some based off of the number of coins sold previously, but had stood at 850,000 in 2004.
The US Mint sold the 2005 Proof Silver Eagles for $27.95 a coin – the same price it charged the previous year.
2005 Silver Eagle Mintages
| Bullion Mintage: | 8,891,025 |
| Proof Mintage: | 816,663 |
2005 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 |
2005 Silver Eagle Design
| Mint Mark: | Bullion – None, Proof – ‘W’ |
| Edge: | Reeded |
| Obverse Designer: | Adolph A. Weinman |
| Reverse Designer: | John Mercanti |