US Mint to Redesign Gold and Silver American Eagles

The U.S. Mint announced plans on Friday to go forward with redesigns on its classic gold American Eagles and silver American Eagles starting in 2021. Seeking to implement new security features to reduce counterfeiting, the Mint started pushing for updates in May. Now that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has greenlit the process, the Mint will begin by modernizing the coins’ reverses. This will be just in time to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the American Eagle program as a whole.

"just in time to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the American Eagle program"

First produced in 1986, current silver American Eagles display former U.S. Mint chief engraver John Mercanti’s Heraldic Eagle reverse. Meanwhile, gold American Eagles feature a motif of an eagle family by sculptor Miley Busiek. John Mercanti retired in 2010, leaving the position vacant until February of this year. The current U.S. Mint Chief Engraver is Joseph Menna, who is best known for redesigning the reverse of the penny in 2010. Whether Menna will create a brand new design, or if the Mint will update the Mercanti design, remains unknown.

“The details of this redesign will be announced in the near future,” said Todd Martin, acting chief for the Mint’s Office of Corporate Communications, to Coinworld. He continued by clarifying that “there is currently no plan to redesign the American Eagle platinum or palladium coins.” 

“there is currently no plan to redesign the American Eagle platinum or palladium coins.” 

Martin also stated to Coinworld that new anti-counterfeiting measures will first debut on the 2021 bullion releases. Proof and other collector versions, he said, will get their own changes later. “The Mint has been very sensitive to the threat of counterfeiting,” he explained. “We have made progress in developing state-of-the-art counterfeiting measures for bullion coins, and are prepared to implement changes that will enhance the security of the gold and silver bullion coin program.”

Though we don’t yet know what form the U.S. Mint’s new security measures will take, mints worldwide have recently begun taking similar measures. The Royal Canadian Mint, for example, employs “DNA technology” on its Maple Leaf coins. Here, they use “digital non-destructive activation” to micro-engrave a textured maple leaf onto their coins, then capture unique images for each coin and encrypt them into a string of codes. This lets the Mint keep a secure database of every coin. The Perth Mint, meanwhile, engraves many of its coins with a small letter that can only be seen with a microscope.

"mints worldwide have recently begun taking similar measures"

Martin stated to Coinworld that Mint Director David J. Ryder “has assembled an anti-counterfeiting interdisciplinary team within the Mint that is researching and reviewing both overt and covert options to enhance the protection of our bullion products.” He also reaffirmed the Mint’s commitment to educating both consumers and the numismatic community about potential counterfeits, to help raise awareness and protect buyers from scams.

Counterfeit gold American Eagles and silver American Eagles are a major problem in the numismatic market. Without changes, recent counterfeit influxes from foreign sources like China could threaten trust in the coin. As the Mint works on increasing security, ensure the authenticity of your purchases by always buying your American bullion from a trusted trader like Bullion Exchanges.
Source:
Coinworld