Silver Eagles do not have a mint mark. From 1986-1988, they were struck at the Mint’s Philadelphia facility. From 1999-2000, they were produced in both Philadelphia and West Point. From 2001-2010, they were produced solely at West Point. Beginning in 2011, they were struck in both West Point and San Francisco.

From 1986-1992, proof American Silver Eagles were minted at the San Francisco facility and included the "S" mint mark. From 1993 through 2000, they were produced in Philadelphia and featured the "P" mint mark. Since 2001, the proof coins have been minted in West Point and bear the "W" mint mark.

An interesting year for the Silver American Eagles was 1995. That was the year the United States Mint released the first special limited edition set celebrating the Eagle’s 10th anniversary.

 In this case, it was a 1995-W Proof Silver Eagle and it was only available through a special 5-coin proof anniversary set that honored American Silver Eagle coinage. (The United States Mint also struck a 1995-P Proof Silver Eagle, it was sold individually and had a much higher mintage)

The other coins in the anniversary set included the one-ounce, half-ounce, quarter-ounce and tenth-ounce American Eagle Gold coins. The set’s price was $999 and it had a very limited run of 30,125. Given the limited mintage and high demand, the 1995-W soon sold by itself for over a thousand dollars. The price continues to escalate

The United States Mint began to directly offer a new type of Eagle to coin collectors in 2006. Many refer to these coins as the "W -
Uncirculated" or the "Burnished" Silver Eagle.

In the same year as part of the 20th anniversary celebration of the American Silver Eagle coins, the Mint also released a 2006 Reverse Proof American Silver Eagle from the Philadelphia Mint. However, this coin could only be purchased through a limited mintage (250,000) anniversary 3-coin set, which also included the standard proof coin and the new "W" burnished coin. The 20th
anniversary set was priced at $100.

While the reverse proof was only offered in 2006, the "W" burnished uncirculated coins continued as a new annual offering.

In commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the American Silver Eagle coin program, the United States Mint in 2011 sold an anniversary set that included five of the coins for $299.95. Limited to 100,000, all of the sets sold out in about four and one-half hours. Driving collectors to the 25th anniversary set were the two coins unique to it— a 2011-P Reverse Proof American Silver Eagle (similar to the one struck in the 20th anniversary set) and a 2011-S Uncirculated American Silver Eagle.

The other coins included were the standard three annual issues that were available individually — a bullion coin from San Francisco, and a proof and uncirculated issue each from West Point.

Following the sell-out, sets were being sold in the secondary market for 2-3 times the Mint’s original price and continue to
increase.