2009 Silver American Eagles saw record demand for the bullion version of the coin resulting in the US Mint not striking any of the Proof or Uncirculated Silver Eagles.
By law, the US Mint is required to mint the bullion Silver Eagles to meet public demand. This stems from the creation of the Eagle Program back in 1985 as a way for the public to obtain precious metal coins guaranteed by the government for content and purity as an investment option. The numismatic versions of the coin (proof and uncirculated) were added by the Mint solely for collectors.
Continuing an intense demand for the bullion Eagles that started the previous year, the Mint could not obtain enough blank silver planchets to keep up with orders for the coins. Consequently, a rationing program initiated in 2008 for the strikes was continued into 2009 until June. At that point, the Mint lifted the rationing program only to have supplies wiped out later in the year causing a temporary suspension of sales before going back to the ration system.
In total, a record 30,459,000 of the bullion coins were sold by the Mint. This number exceeded the previous record set just the year before of 20,583,000 by 9,876,000 coins or 48%.
Silver did decline marginally in 2009 compared to 2008. For the year, the average cost of an ounce of the precious metal was $14.67 – down $.32. The low point of the year occurred in mid-January when silver fell to $10.51 an ounce while the high was on December 2nd with $19.18 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):
2009 Bullion Silver Eagles Sold
| January | 1,900,000 | July | 2,810,000 | |
| February | 2,125,000 | August | 2,130,000 | |
| March | 3,132,000 | September | 1,703,000 | |
| April | 2,518,000 | October | 2,939,000 | |
| May | 1,904,500 | November | 2,586,500 | |
| June | 2,245,000 | December | 2,773,500 |
As mentioned earlier, both the proof and uncirculated versions of the 2009 Silver Eagle were cancelled by the US Mint due to demand placed on the institution for striking the bullion eagle. This marked the first year since the Eagle Program began in 1986 that a Proof Silver Coin was not struck.
The Uncirculated Eagle had been produced for only three years before 2009 interrupted its run.
2009 Silver Eagle Mintages
| Bullion Mintage: | 30,459,000 |
| Proof Mintage: | None Minted |
| Uncirculated Mintage: | None Minted |
2009 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 |
2009 Silver Eagle Design
| Mint Mark: | Bullion – None, Proof – none minted Uncirculated – none minted |
| Edge: | Reeded |
| Obverse Designer: | Adolph A. Weinman |
| Reverse Designer: | John Mercanti |
2009 Silver Eagles on eBay