2001-P Silver Buffalo Commemorative

YEAR	2001
MINT	P- Philadelphia
FINISH	PROOF
WEIGHT	.7736 oz
PURITY	.900 Fine Silver
GRADE	PF 70 Ultra Cameo
GRADING SERVICE	NGC
SPECIAL FEATURES

The Buffalo Silver Dollar Commemorative was one of the programs recommended in a Citizen Commemorative Coinage Advisory Committee five-year plan. One of the major points it made to congress after the collapse of the commemorative market in the mid-1990s was that coin collectors are attracted to classic and iconic designs and that the programs need to incorporate them in order to be successful.

The selection of the old Type 1 Buffalo nickel design for a silver dollar commemorative was a stroke of marketing genius, and it produced marvelous results.

Developed to commemorate the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian of the Smithsonian Institution and supplement its endowment and educational outreach funds, a maximum mintage of 500,000 Proof and Mint-State dollars was authorized. The Proof Silver Buffalo was struck at the Philadelphia Mint with a final mintage of 272,869 coins. Not exactly a low-mintage for a Commemorative Silver Dollar, however it is the most valuable.

In perfect Proof 70 grade these coins can be challenging to acquire. Unlike Silver American Eagles Proof coins struck in recent years where 85-90% of the coins submitted to NGC and PCGS achieve a perfect proof 70 grade, only about 13% of all Proof Silver Buffalos submitted to either NGC or PCGS make a perfect Proof 70 grade. Even though the United States Mint used high-tonnage coin presses adjusted to 230 tons of pressure, only about 1% of the original mintage is known in perfect PF 70 grades.