Owner Comments:
Mintage 5,203,327
Minted at Philadelphia without mintmark
Again, finding an attractive Silver Eagle with original luster and sharp strike without milk spotting was a difficult task, but sticking with my cherrypicking strategy, I found this coin with exceptional eye appeal, attractive sharp strike on the obverse and reverse, as well as fully original mint blast white luster and exceptionally smooth fields. Actually, it was so exceptional, I didn't understand why it only graded an MS-69. If I'm being totally honest, I had extreme difficulty finding any flaws in the coin that would keep it from being graded an MS-70 even after tilting and rotating the coin repeatedly under 7x magnification. However, when looking very hard at this example for a long time, I did find only one VERY minuscule contact marks on the obverse rim that could conceivably take it out of contention for an MS-70. I'm guessing that must have been it. I'm very curious as to what the graders found on this coin. I guess graders can be tough ! It just makes me appreciate my MS-70 coins all the more. The photos posted are somewhat misleading since they show white areas in the field that, with the coin in hand, I don't see on the coin itself under 7x magnification. I can only assume that the white areas must be dust or other matter present when the photos were taken. No hairlines on the surface of the coin, milk spots, scuff marks or other flaws (other than the one I mentioned above) can be seen at 7x magnification.
Numismatic News: In 1989, coin collecting made national headlines when some 1989 Washington Quarters were discovered without mintmarks. Normally they would have a P (Philadelphia) or D (Denver) mintmark.
In international news, 1989 was marked the fall of the Berlin Wall
Demand for the 1989 bullion issue was slightly stronger than for the 1988 issue, with just over 5.2 million coins sold. Wall Street investors and other fortune seekers pumped money into the hobby which served to drive the prices of popular coin series up beyond normal collector levels. Currently, certified MS-70 American Silver Eagles are in the price range in the marketplace at approximately $1300-1500.
The 1989 average silver price was $5.52/ounce