Ronald Reagan and the American Silver Eagle

Above, Ronald and Nancy Reagan at Los Angeles International Airport in 1980. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

U.S. Gold Bureau posted an article on the release of the proof version of the 2023 American Silver Eagle coin on March 2. 

While at the National Money Show in Phoenix a couple of days later, I purchased one.

While the news on the release of the proof coin is now "old news", the beginning of the article caught my attention. It was about how the American Silver Eagle coins came to be.

Here's a snippet:

Silver American Eagles became the global standard of sovereign silver coins shortly after President Ronald Reagan signed the Liberty Coin Act in 1985. The Liberty Coin Act granted the U.S. Mint authority to produce both bullion and proof versions of the Silver American Eagle. In 1986, the first Silver American Eagle was minted in San Francisco, and the world has never been the same. 

The first Silver American Eagle was produced ceremonially on October 29, 1986, at the U.S. Mint's San Francisco Assay Office. Secretary of the Treasury James Baker dramatically reached for the button to turn on the press and said to the media, "I don't need a pick and shovel to start the San Francisco Silver Rush of 1986." Baker’s remark playfully referred to the San Francisco Gold Rush of 1849, which directly led to the opening of the San Francisco facility in 1854. Baker correctly predicted the coming silver rush. Since 1986, more than 750 million Silver American Eagles have been sold. Read the fabled history of the San Francisco Mint here. 

To read more, go here.