Since 2001, the West Point Mint has been solely responsible for the production of the American Silver Eagle coin. However, due to an emergency closure, production of the coins was temporarily relocated to the San Francisco Mint. The San Francisco Mint ASE issues have always held enormous prestige among collectors as the first United States Mint branch to produce the American Silver Eagle. These limited edition ASEs lack a mintmark and will be labeled “Emergency Production” by NGC and “Emergency Issue” by PCGS. Due to the lack of a mintmark, only a portion of the total 2021 (S) mintage will bear this pedigree. These coins are issued directly by the mint and bear the mint mark.