Contrary to rumor, the U.S. Mint is not striking any 2015 American Eagle silver bullion coins at the Philadelphia Mint.

Adam Stump, deputy director of the U.S. Mint's Office of Corporate Communications, said Jan. 20 the 1-ounce, .999 fine silver coins are currently being produced at only the West Point Mint for sale to authorized purchasers. The U.S. Mint does not sell any bullion coins directly to the public.

Also, currently no production of American Eagle silver bullion coins is being executed at the San Francisco Mint, Stump said.

The San Francisco Mint last struck American Eagle silver bullion coins in mid-2014, according to Stump. The San Francisco Mint began assisting the West Point Mint with producing American Eagle silver bullion coins in May 2011, to meet increasing investor demand. That demand increased, setting a record in 2013 with 42,675,000 coins sold, and again in 2014 with 44,006,000 coins sold.

A Coin World reader inquired by email whether the San Francisco Mint was striking any 2015 American Eagle silver coins. The reader reported hearing a rumor that the Philadelphia Mint was, but the 500-coin boxes were being strapped with the designation as West Point strikes.

All boxed American Eagle silver bullion coins are strapped with the Mint designation as to where the coins were produced. When the San Francisco Mint was still striking silver American Eagle bullion coins, the straps were printed designating their San Francisco Mint origin, but all the coins were shipped to West Point for authorized purchasers to accept delivery. Authorized purchasers were unable to designate a preference for West Point or San Francisco strikes.

For the coins to be designated in the marketplace as either West Point or San Francisco Mint strikes, strapped boxes had to be shipped, intact, to a major third-party grading service for grading and encapsulation and labeling as to the Mint of origin.

The 500-coin, green, hard plastic boxes, often referred to as "monster boxes," contain 25 soft plastic tubes with green caps, and each tube holds 20 American Eagle silver bullion coins.

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