New Design for Eagle?

For 28 years, sculptor John Mercanti’s eagle with shield and grasping an olive branch and arrows in its talons has graced the reverse of the American silver Eagle $1 bullion coin.

Some think it’s time to give another eagle a chance to adorn the coin.

So the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee will hold a teleconference April 8 to discuss the possibility of placing a new image on the coin. CCAC Chairman Gary Marks called the meeting.

“For the past three years or so the CCAC recommended in our annual report that in view of the fact that the silver Eagle has now been issued for more than 25 years, it qualifies under statute for a new reverse,” Marks said.

To save time and expense, Marks has asked the U.S. Mint to comb through its files and bring forward coin designs featuring eagles that have been proposed for other coin programs.

“When we looked at designs for the U.S. Marshals Service 225th anniversary coin, there were some eagles among them that wouldn’t be used, and some were absolutely gorgeous,” he said.

As an example, he pointed to a design that depicts an eagle in flight, clutching a laurel branch.

Marks said a new design for the silver Eagle “would really create some excitement for the program and refresh that coin.”

The American silver Eagle $1 bullion coin was first released Nov. 24, 1986. It contains 1 troy ounce of 99.9 percent silver.

By law, a coin design cannot be changed more often than once every 25 years, unless mandated by Congress.