2016 already stands out as a unique year, as it was the only time that a Silver Eagles ever had a "lettered edge" as opposed to its traditional reeded edge. This unique feature was met with much success as collectors were quite pleased to see "30th Anniversary" inscribed on the edge of the silver coin. In 2019, the United States Mint was doing their year-end audit and discovered a leftover inventory of 2016 Proof Silver Eagles that was not accounted for. 183,781 coins were found in what is now called "The West Point Mint Hoard."

Typically, any left over Silver Eagles as such are taken out of their packaging and melted down. This is what is called "de-trashing," as explained by Matt Holden, the chief marketing and sales officer of the Mint. This time around, the United States Mint decided to sell these 2016-W Proof Silver Eagles to only a handful of coin dealers by sealed bid. This release has put this Silver Eagle in a category of its own. PCGS and NGC are even giving these coins their own line items on the population reports.

REMEMBER: These were sold by the U.S. Mint three years after their release, so PCGS and NGC, for the very first time will print both the 2016 date with the implied date (2019) on the certification label! This is a first in Silver Eagle collecting. What is even more interesting is that these special pedigree coins can be obtained for just about the same price as a regular 2016-W Proof Silver Eagle. However, this may not be the case for long...

Get your 2016-W Proof Silver Eagle PCGS PR70 from the West Point Mint Hoard today!