The attractiveness of silver, especially US Coins made of silver is the increasing price of gold. With gold at $1489.88 an ounce at the close on May 16, 2011 in New York, many investors just do not have enough funds to make gold a viable investment. This is especially true for the working poor of America.

Sliver on the other hand is only at $33.60 an ounce on the same date and market as the higher price of gold. The price of silver might not have risen as much as gold in the past year, but going from just shy of $20 to over $45 in April of 2011 before settling down to its current level in the mid $30s, is still a good return on investment.

For those looking to invest in silver coins that have been circulated, the pre 1965 US coins are the one you need to find. This is the time when the American mint started to infuse copper and other metals into the traditionally silver coins. They are also the ones that hold a greater value than their face value at this time.

Another option is to purchase US Mint silver bullion coins. Unfortunately they are charging just over 36% above the going market value of silver for their coins.

With the High Silver Prices Driving Silver Coin Market, be careful since there will be people wishing to capitalize on this situation and offer fakes thru the online sites. Know what you are buying before you send your money.

Unfortunately, the popularity of the Silver Eagle coins has overwhelmed the ability of the US Mint and the availability of silver bullion blanks. This was the reason there were no 2009 Silver Eagle coins produced of any version, proofs or uncirculated. The last Silver Eagle coins that were produced and available for purchase were part of the 2008 United States Mint Annual Uncirculated Dollar Coin Set that is priced at $37.95. The official web page for this product claims orders for this set will no longer be accepted after August 7, 2008, but they are still listed as being available. This is the only way to purchase a Silver Eagle coin. Both the individual proofs and uncirculated coins are being listed as sold out.

Since the US Mint has already broken the law that mandates them to produce this coin in 2009, they might do the same for 2010. The US Mint claims they will start producing these coins as soon as sufficient silver bullion blanks are accumulated to meet the current demand for all three Silver Eagle coin products.

For those into coin collecting, this could mean there might not be any again this year. I wonder how the mint is judging what the demand is if they are not offering any 2010 Silver Eagles for sale. Once again, too much bureaucracy when it comes to dealing with the US Government.