1999 American Silver Eagle
Every version of the 1999 Silver Eagle with mintages, the silver it contains, which versions carry a premium and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1999
- 1 oz bullion mintage
- 7,408,640
- Versions
- 2
- Metal
- .999 fine silver
Original illustration of the coin's size and metal. Tap to flip. Not a picture of the actual design.
Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because metal and coin prices change daily.
What is a 1999 Silver Eagle worth?
The 1999 bullion Silver Eagle is worth its silver content: weight times the day's spot price, plus a modest dealer premium when you buy and less when you sell. Its scarcer versions are different: the 1999-P proof (549,796) rates small premium.
Metal value = troy ounces of silver × the day's spot price. For collector versions, check recent sold results for the same version and grade.
Every 1999 Silver Eagle version
| Version | Mint mark | Size | Mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bullion | None | 1 oz ($1) | 7,408,640 | Metal value |
| Proof | "P" | 1 oz ($1) | 549,796 | Small premium |
There are two 1999 versions. The bullion coin has no mint mark and a regular mint finish; it was sold through dealers and is the version most people own. The proof, struck at Philadelphia, shows a P beside the eagle's tail on the reverse, mirror-like fields and frosted Liberty and eagle. Both share the same design, weight and silver content. A magnifier helps with the mint mark, which is small and easy to miss on a toned or spotted coin. The finish alone usually settles it. Proofs were sold one to a case, never in rolls.
Quick answers
- How much silver is in a 1999 Silver Eagle?
- Each coin contains its stated weight of pure silver: one troy ounce in the $1 coin. The alloy is 99.9% silver.
- How many 1999 Silver Eagles were made?
- 7,408,640 one ounce bullion coins plus 549,796 collector versions (proof, burnished and special finishes).
- Is the 1999 Silver Eagle worth more than its silver?
- The bullion coin trades close to its metal value plus a dealer premium. Collector versions in their original packaging bring a small premium.
- Is the Silver Eagle legal tender?
- Yes. Each size carries a face value ($1), but nobody spends them: the silver is worth far more than the face value.
The Silver Eagle in 1999
Bullion buying jumped in 1999 to 7,408,640 coins, the best total since 1987 and a rise of more than half over 1998. The approach of the year 2000 played a part. Worries about computer systems failing at the turn of the millennium led some people to keep cash and precious metals at home. Silver Eagles, easy to recognize and easy to sell, were an obvious pick for that. Plenty of those coins were never sold again and still sit in the tubes they were bought in, which is why sealed rolls of 1999 bullion are common.
Proof sales picked up as well. Philadelphia struck 549,796 coins, the highest proof total since 1990. Modern coin collecting was enjoying a revival in 1999, helped by the new state quarter program that brought millions of people back to looking at their change. Some of those newcomers found their way to Silver Eagle proofs. The 1999-P is still a common coin, but it was the start of a climb that carried proof sales past 800,000 a few years later.
1999 Silver Eagle by the numbers
The Mint sold 7,408,640 one ounce bullion Silver Eagles dated 1999. That ranks 13th lowest of the 39 bullion dates from 1986 to 2024.
Against the dates around it, 1999 bullion sales were 1.5 times the 1998 figure and 1.2 times fewer than 2000.
Collector versions dated 1999 add up to 549,796 coins across 1 version. The scarcest is the 1999-P proof at 549,796.
What to check on yours
- Weigh and measure it. A genuine one ounce Silver Eagle weighs 31.103 g and measures 40.6 mm. Fakes are usually the wrong weight or the wrong thickness.
- Try a magnet. Silver is not magnetic, so a coin that sticks is not genuine. A coin that does not stick still needs the other checks.
- Look for the mint mark. Bullion strikes have none; proofs and burnished coins carry a small letter. A mirror field with frosted design means a proof, a soft satin look means burnished.
- Handle it by the edge and never clean it. Fingerprints, wiping and polishing leave marks that cost collector versions much of their premium.
- Keep the original capsule, box and certificate with collector versions. Coins that come with them are easier to sell and more likely to bring their full premium.
The 1999 bullion coin trades at metal value except in top certified grades. The 1999-P proof sits in small premium territory. Because the proof mintage is moderate, buyers can afford to be fussy: they look for strong frost on Liberty's gown and clean, dark mirrors in the fields. Coins in original packaging with the certificate sell more easily than loose ones. If your proof has drifted into a soft plastic flip over the years, move it into a proper capsule. Clean coins always find buyers.
Philadelphia proofs and the 1995-W (1993 to 2000)
Proof production moved east to Philadelphia in 1993, so every regular proof from 1993 to 2000 carries a P mint mark. Proof sales were modest through the middle of the decade, sliding to 372,168 in 1994, the lowest regular proof figure of the classic run. They then recovered to 600,000 by 2000 as interest in modern coins picked up again. Philadelphia proofs of this period are known for developing spots, so clean examples are harder to find than the mintages suggest.
This era holds the most famous Silver Eagle of all. For the program's tenth anniversary the Mint sold a proof set of four Gold Eagles with a single silver proof struck at West Point. Only 30,125 sets were sold and the 1995-W was not available any other way. A year later the 1996 bullion coin recorded the lowest regular bullion figure of the run, 3,603,386, giving collectors a second date to chase. Neither coin attracted much attention at the time; their status built slowly as collectors began assembling complete date runs.
Silver was cheap for most of the 1990s, so there was little reason to rush. Bullion buying settled at around four to five million coins a year from 1994 until a jump in 1999 and 2000. For anyone sorting an inherited collection, this is the stretch to examine carefully. A boxed 1995 anniversary set with its W coin, a loose 1995-W or a nice 1996 bullion coin is worth far more attention than the common dates around it.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Program | American Silver Eagle |
|---|---|
| Issuer | United States Mint |
| Metal | .999 fine silver |
| Alloy | 99.9% silver |
| Sizes | 1 oz ($1, 31.103 g, 40.6 mm) |
| Edge | Reeded |
| One ounce coin | 31.103 g, 40.6 mm |
Frequently asked questions
Did Y2K worries affect Silver Eagle sales in 1999?
Sales jumped to 7,408,640 coins, up by more than half on 1998, as some buyers looked for physical metal ahead of the year 2000. That big total means the 1999 bullion date is common and trades at metal value.
Which mint made the 1999 proof Silver Eagle?
Philadelphia, marked with a P on the reverse. It was the second to last year of Philadelphia proofs before West Point took over in 2001. The Mint struck 549,796 of them, a common figure for a modern proof.
Mintages: American Silver Eagle (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from US Mint figures. How we build these pages.