American Silver Eagle Green Monster Box

The American Silver Eagle Green Monster Box is considered by many to be one of the best ways of obtaining a large quantity of silver bullion coins.

Designed by the US Mint as an efficient method of containing the coins, these boxes are sold to the Mint’s network of authorized purchasers who must order a minimum of 50 of the boxes at a time. The network will then resell the coins in varying quantities to the public.

Each distinctive green box contains a total of 500 American Silver Eagle bullion coins and contains the U.S. Treasury Seal. Boxes are typically wrapped with two strapping bands indicating the US Mint facility responsible for producing them, which for the last several years has been the West Point Mint. Found in each box are a total of twenty-five tubes with twelve tubes placed on each side and one tube placed in the center.

Inside each tube is twenty bullion grade America Silver Eagles. Each Eagle is struck from one ounce of .999 fine silver and features the classic image of "Walking Liberty" on their obverse with a heraldic Eagle and shield on their reverse. This same design has been used on the Eagle’s since their debut in 1986.

Eagle Monster Box Values

The American Eagle program was created to allow investors the ability to add precious metals to their portfolios in relatively small amounts and at near market prices. As such, the bullion Silver Eagles are typically sold for a small premium above the current spot price of the silver contained within them. Each green Monster Box is sold in basically the same manner.

However, whereas individual coins are an affordable option for almost anyone, the Monster Boxes can get quite pricey. Since each contains 500 coins for a total of 500 ounces of silver, the value of a single box can be out of reach for the average investor.

For example, if silver is currently trading for $25 an ounce, the melt value alone of a box would be approximately $12,500 – five hundred ounces times $25 an ounce equals $12,500. And that number does not take into account any premiums charged on the coins. The Mint itself adds a premium of $2 per Silver Eagle when it sells them to its network of authorized purchasers to cover minting and distribution costs.

That premium will increase when the dealer adds their handling cost for each purchase. However, once obtained, the coins will always retain a melt value approximately equal to the current spot price of the silver within them giving the owner a tangible investment option in the silver market.

The boxes may also be broken up adding a means to recoup some of the original investment cost. First, individual coins or rolls of coins may be resold to others allowing the original owner a chance to cover a portion of their original purchase.

Second, as the coin’s in the box were packaged by the Mint, and never handled individually since then, a number of them may be good candidates for grading by a third party grading service. Those achieving a high grade of 69 or 70 would then have a numismatic value worth much more than the coin’s melt value.

Silver Eagle Coin Information

Bullion Silver American Eagle Coins were first released by the US Mint in 1986 as part of the Liberty Coin Act of 1985 (Public Law 99-61). Each coin is struck from one ounce of .999 fine silver and is the official silver bullion coin of the United States.

The image of "Walking Liberty" shown on the obverse of the coin was designed by Adolph A. Weinman and first used on the Walking Liberty Half Dollar that appeared from the US Mint between 1916-1947. Many consider the design as one of the most beautiful to ever appear on a United States coin.

Shown on the reverse is an image of a heraldic Eagle with shield. The design was completed by John Mercanti.

Silver American Eagle Individual Coin Specifications