Owner Comments:
Mintage 223,879
Minted at West Point with "W" mintmark
With a fantastically sharp strike on the obverse and reverse, lustrous and smooth fields, as well as no spots, hairlines, hits, scuff marks, abrasions or other defects, I can see why this American Silver Eagle received a perfect MS-70 grade.
Numismatic News: The 2015-W Burnished American Silver Eagle went on sale on March 26 2015 at an initial price of $39.95 with no household or product ordering limits. Over 73% of the coins submitted to NGC received the grade of MS-70.
Scott Schechter, coauthor of "100 Greatest US Modern Coins", wrote in his "Making Moderns" column in the March 10, 2014 issue of Coin World that the burnishing process "does not affect the appearance of the coin in any way." However, this is controversial as other articles report that the burnished coins lack the deep mirrored fields and cameo appearance of the devices of "unburnished" examples -- instead having a uniform satiny or matte finish. In the end, I'll just leave it up to the experts. In hand, this coin has a matte finish surface which does not reflect light as well as regular bullion strikes do.