Once the 2008-W Burnished Silver American Eagles with the reverse of the 2007 had surfaced, the United States Mint evaluated its coin inventory and discovered that 16 reverse dies from 2007 were used to strike 46,318 of the reverse of 2008-W Burnished Silver Eagles. However, we now know that the 32% of all single-issued Eagles in 2008 were "scraped" as they failed to pass quality control at the Mint. This would mean that the actual coins known are significantly less than the originally reported 46,318.

You can distinguish the 2008-W Burnished Silver Eagles with the Reverse of the 2007 by looking at the U in UNITED on the Reverse of the coin. The U on the 2007 coins will lack a serif on the lower right-hand side of the U. All 2008 coins going forward have a serif on the lower right-hand side of the U.

The 2008-W Burnished Silver Eagle with the Reverse of the 2007 is definitely one of the most sought-after issues in the entire Silver American Eagle Series.  With many of these in-demand Silver Eagles already locked away in collections, examples in MS69 or MS70 come up for sale much less frequently than the certified population would indicate.

Collectors Note: It is important to remember that NGC is the preferred grading service of most Silver American Eagle collectors. Although PCGS population reports show PCGS MS70 coins to be significantly more scarce, they are valued about the same in today’s marketplace. 

Certified Census Report
10/2022

• Designer: Adolph A Weinman (obv) / John Mercanti (rev)
• Mintage: Estimated Less Than 46,318
  
• Weight: 31.10 Grams
• Composition: .9993 Silver
• Actual Silver Weight: 1.000 Ounce