Secondary market prices for the Enhanced Reverse Proof 2019-S American Eagle silver dollar continue to climb, with at least one coin selling for more than 212 times its original issue price.

That example, originally sold Nov. 14 by the U.S. Mint for $65.95, reportedly brought $14,001 in a Dec. 4 eBay auction.

Coin World reached out to the seller, who did not respond to inquiries.

The winning bidder, Jesse Constans from Jesse James Rare Coins in Hudson, Wisconsin, was one of 10 bidders who together placed a total of 36 bids combined for the coin graded Proof 70 First Strike by Professional Coin Grading Service.

The coin was the 16th coin from among 100 with the serial-numbered certificate of authenticity personally signed and numbered by U.S. Mint Director David J. Ryder before being shipped by the Mint’s order fulfillment contractor.

The COA bears the printed serial number 00016 along with Ryder’s signature and Ryder’s numbering the COA #16.

Constans said he and a handful of other dealers pooled resources to make the eBay purchase.

“This is uncharted territory,” Constans, who deals exclusively in certified American Eagle silver dollars, told Coin World by telephone Dec. 6. “This is the world’s most popular coin series. The COA may have more value than the coin.”

Constans said he and several dealers also joined forces to acquire the PCGS Proof 70, First Strike Enhanced Reverse Proof 2019-S American Eagle with COA serial numbered 00002 and signed #2 by Ryder.

That coin is being offered on eBay for a Buy It Now option of $149,995, or Make An Offer.

Constans said 20 percent of the closing price will be donated to charitable services assisting disabled American veterans.

Another PCGS Proof 70 First Strike coin purchased Nov. 14 at the Whitman Baltimore Expo realized $7,595.60 in an online auction by GreatCollections that closed Dec. 1. The price paid reflects the winning bid of $6,751.64 plus the 10 percent buyer’s fee.

The PCGS-encapsulated GreatCollections coin was accompanied by an unsigned serial-numbered COA encapsulated in a separate holder and bearing serial number 06348. 

The coin is one of the 800 coins reported sold by the U.S. Mint at the Baltimore coin show, and the PCGS grading label pedigrees the coin to the show.

Strong demand for coin

The Mint opened sales at noon Eastern Time Nov. 14 for the 30,000 coins made available to buyers online, by telephone and at the show.

Aside from those being sold at the show, orders for the coins available by phone and online were reported within 20 minutes to have been sufficient to exhaust the maximum issue.

GreatCollections President Ian Russell says he was awed by the secondary market demand.

“The demand was unprecedented,” Russell said. “I knew the issue would be popular, but not to this degree.”

The GreatCollections lot that brought $7,595.60 had more than 100 interested individuals tracking the lot’s progress, with more than 2,000 page views.

The lot’s winning bidder was one of 11 who placed a combined total of 46 bids on the lot. The lot opened Nov. 20 with a bid of $1. 

The eventual winning bidder didn’t jump in until Nov. 24, at the $3,500 level, with the first of six bids.

Russell said the bidder is a regular East Coast participant in GreatCollections sales.

Russell said three other PCGS Proof 70 First Strike 2019-S Enhanced Reverse Proof American Eagle silver dollars were being offered by GreatCollections in separate sales, and several others are to be offered in future sales.

One with a Dec. 8 closing date and serial number 06828 on the COA had a bid of $3,200 as of 9:53 a.m. Eastern Time Dec. 4, with 37 bids placed by 14 individual bidders.

Another, with a closing date of Dec. 15 and COA serial number 06814, had a leading bid of $1,550, with six bidders placing a combined total of 17 bids at last check Dec. 4.

A third is offered with COA serial number 07011, also with a Dec. 15 closing.

Sellers at eBay have recorded multiple completed sales for coins sold in their original Mint packaging, for $1,500 to $2,000 per coin.

Meanwhile, the independent, third-party grading services continue to certify the Enhanced Reverse Proof coins, some with and some without separate encapsulated COAs.

Graded coins

As of Dec. 4, fewer than 2,000 coins had been professionally graded and encapsulated by the four major grading services combined, at least according to their published tallies.

The PCGS Population Report lists a total of 545 submissions, 356 of which were graded and encapsulated Proof 70 and 189 as Proof 69.

The Numismatic Guaranty Corp. Census Report indicates total submissions of 1,451 coins, with 1,345 certified Proof 70 and 106 as Proof 69.

Independent Coin Graders reports nine coins graded and encapsulated — five as Proof 70, two Proof 69, and one each Proof 68 and Proof 67.

As of Dec. 3, ANACS had not yet posted on its Population Report the number of the 2019-S Enhanced Reverse Proof American Eagles the grading service had already certified. 

ANACS senior numismatist/grader Michael Fahey said ANACS had a significant quantity of the coins in-house awaiting certification. 

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