CFA studies designs of the new American Eagle

The approval process for new designs for the 2021 American Eagle Gold and Silver Bullion continues to move forward. Therefore, the United States Mint had submitted the 39 models to the United States Fine Arts Commission. The commission then chooses between these for a replacement of historic designs on the reverse of gold and silver coins. 

The United States Mint will debut a new design on the back of the American Eagle for gold and silver from 2021 onward.

The Commission issued its opinion on June 18, after reviewing the 39 options. Each of the designs had two versions, one for the gold and one for the silver coin. In fact, the only differences between them are the inscriptions for the name and the location of mandatory inscriptions: ‘IN GOD WE TRUST’ and ‘E PLURIBUS UNUM.’

In the current designs, the inscriptions appear on the reverse side of the coin. For the silver case, ‘IN GOD WE TRUST’ appears on the front and ‘E PLURIBUS UNUM,’ on the reverse.

The US Mint has not disclosed the engravers who produced the proposed designs.

The chosen design

According to information provided by the US Mint, the Fine Arts Committee’s design for the reverse of the new silver American Eagle features a heraldic eagle in between naturalistic and symbolic style.

The Eagle holds five arrows. They represent the five major US military divisions: the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. Next to it, 13 stars symbolize the 13 original colonies of the United States.

Additionally, the design for the new back of the golden American Eagle represents an eagle at the moment of landing.

Finally, the Committee proposed the design change on the back of the American Eagle in 2014. However, the increase in the number of gold and silver American Eagles counterfeits convinced the United States Mint that the redesign was a priority.