Change for 2021
The United States Mint has changed the designs on the reverse to coincide with the 35th anniversary of the American Eagle Silver and Gold Coins. The US Mint and Treasury, under US law, needs special authorization to make changes to national coinage before the 25-year mark. As both programs are well beyond that point now, it was decided to make an adjustment to move the American Eagle Silver and Gold Coins to a fresh position going forward into the 21st century in the 2020s.
The Mint expects to have the new reverse designs in production and distributed to authorized dealers as early as July 2021. Until that point in time, the early 2021 releases will feature the existing design combinations. Proof and Burnished versions of the American Eagles will receive the new reverse designs later in 2021.
Soaring Eagle – American Eagle Silver Reverse
In the 2021 new reverse design of the American Silver Eagle, the US Mint features the design of a bald eagle. The new design captures the bald eagle building up its nest. The bald eagle is shown with its wings and legs at full stretch. The wings are easing the bird’s descent toward its nest, while its talons are clutching a long olive branch that is soon to be added to its nest. The American bald eagle is famed for building the largest tree nest of any North American bird and one of the largest of any bird species in the world. The inscriptions on the new 2021 reverse field mostly surround the outer rim and include “United States of America” and “One Dollar , 1 oz. Fine Silver.” Just above the metal content inscription is the inscription of “E Pluribus Unum.”
Vigilant Eagle – American Eagle Gold Reverse
For the reverse of the American Gold Eagle , both investors and numismatists will find the image of a vigilant bald eagle. The design has one of the closest looks at the American bald eagle on any coin from the US Mint. The bird is shown in left-profile relief in a realistic design that captures the details of its plumage, the steely gaze of its keen eyesight, and the powerful, hooked beak it uses to rip into its prey with ease. As with the American Eagle Silver Coin, you will find the same inscriptions on this face of the American Eagle Gold Coin that are common to the reverse, but with a new arrangement to accommodate the new design element. Inscriptions include “United States of America” and “50 Dollars – 1 oz. Find Gold” along the outer rim of the design field. Below the inscription of the nation of issue and above the head of the eagle, the inscriptions of “E Pluribus Unum” and “In God We Trust” are stacked together. The fractional-ounce coins will have the appropriate face value and weight marked in their inscriptions.