A new era is about to begin in the most popular modern U.S. coins of all time. The American Silver Eagle and the American Gold Eagle with new reverse designs for each coin will debut by the middle of next year on both bullion and collector versions of these widely collected and traded flagship coin programs.

Both coins have been issued since 1986 and will continue to feature their current iconic obverse designs. The silver coin obverse is based on Adolph Weinman’s 1916 Walking Liberty Half Dollar obverse design of Lady Liberty, while the gold will continue to carry the beloved Augustus 1907 Saint-Gaudens design of Lady Liberty. Both designs feature a confident Liberty striding toward the dawn of a new day.

Starting with the 2021 coins, the obverses will feature what the Mint calls “refreshed depictions” of those designs. The Mint has not yet indicated exactly what that means, but it likely refers to some small modifications of the design using modern minting techniques to enhance the designs.

New Silver Eagle reverse

On October 1, the U.S. Mint announced the unveiling of the new designs for the reverse side of these modern classics. U.S. Mint Director David J. Ryder said that the new designs “build on the United States Mint’s heritage of artistic excellence and fortify the American Eagle Coin Program’s status as an icon in the numismatic and art worlds.”

For the Silver Eagle the new reverse depicts a single eagle as it is coming in for a landing while grasping an olive branch in its talons (which symbolize peace) with the right wing going off the design. This design was originally recommended for the Gold Eagle reverse by the Committee on Fine Arts earlier this year.

This design was created by Emily Damstra, an artist with the Mint’s Artistic Infusion program whose prior U.S. coin design credits include the 2017 Boys Town and 2018 Breast Cancer Awareness commemoratives and designs for the America the Beautiful quarter and American Innovation dollar coin programs.

Ms. Damstra said the design “grew from a desire to depict our national bird – with all of the values it embodies – in a unique way that could also convey traits such as diligence, cooperation, care and protection.”

The new silver design was sculpted by Michael Gaudioso, who recently retired from the Mint where was a Medallic Artist since 2009 with many coin design credits and a huge portfolio of designs by other artists he sculpted. He is a classically trained sculptor.

New Gold Eagle reverse

For the Gold Eagle the new reverse is a very bold design that shows a close-up profile of the head of an eagle – a motif that has never appeared on any previous U.S. coin and one that is reminiscent of some of the popular world coins that depict eagles like the 2020 Mongolian Majestic Eagle and the Australian Wedge Tailed Eagle series.

This design was originally proposed for the Silver Eagle by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee after the group first proposed it for the Gold Eagle. 

The design is not only highly original and one that symbolizes a resurgent United States but also one that is scalable to the smaller sized, fractional Gold Eagles without losing lots of detail as happens with a more complex design when it is reduced for coins smaller than one ounce.

The design is the creation of Jennie Norris, an artist with the Mint’s Artistic Infusion program since 2019, who is currently a graphic designer at the University of Arizona. This is her first design for a U.S. Mint coin. It was sculpted by Renata Gordon, who has been a Medallic Artist for the Mint since 2011. Her prior design was for the 2018 U.S. Navy silver medal, and she has also sculpted a very large number of designs by other artists for many coin programs.

Ms. Norris is a former volunteer raptor handler who drew inspiration for her design from the deep connection she has to wildlife. She noted: “The American Eagle is such a noble bird. I was hoping to capture the intensity of his stare through the close cropping. His gaze speaks of pride and wisdom passed down through generations of time.”

The new Silver Eagle design is a more traditional one that is reminiscent of eagles that appeared on some past U.S. coins compared to the more modern-looking Gold Eagle reverse, which is likely based on the fact that the Mint did not want to do anything that could hurt sales of the silver bullion coin, which is the most successful coin program in the Mint’s 228-year history with tens of millions of coins sold each year.

While opinions always vary, initial collector reactions to the designs since they were first discussed by the design committees earlier this year has been very positive for the gold. That reflects the deeply-held sense of patriotism among Americans and probably also the uniqueness and originality of the design.

The Mint also plans to add new and improved security and anti-counterfeiting measures to both coins when the 2021 issues are released but is not able to publicly indicate what those changes are yet.

2021 is the 35^th anniversary of both coin programs, and collectors are hoping the Mint will issue special anniversary sets in 2021.

One final note: On its Facebook page announcing the new designs, the Mint says: “Other American Eagle gold and silver proof products produced at West Point will be available in the original and new designs in 2021.” It is not clear what this means, but it is probably related to the fact that the Mint will introduce the new designs in mid-2021 rather than at the start of the year when bullion sales always begin.

In that case, 2021 could become a unique year in these coin programs with coins issued with two different reverse types in the same year, which would be a collector’s dream!

We carry a huge inventory of American Silver Eagles and American Gold Eagles.