Silver · Coins
2016-P Australia $8 Wedge-Tailed Eagle 5 oz Silver High Relief — PCGS PR70DCAM, Mercanti Signed
Call for pricing
Perfect PR70. Only one in the vault — verified against public auction results and priced at the top of its market band.
2016-P Australia $8 Wedge-Tailed Eagle, 5 oz .999 fine silver high relief proof from the Perth Mint, graded PCGS PR70DCAM on a Mercanti signed label. One example held.
How we arrived at —
Confirmed all-in price, set by hand at our desk and held until your order completes.
- Confirmed price
- $629.00
- Held for
- 72 hours at checkout
Price last researched and confirmed Aug 24, 2026.
Greysheet lists melt on this five-ounce issue in the low $300s at recent silver, with retail catalogue values from roughly $363 to $500 for ordinary certified examples. Perfect PR70 deep cameo coins on signed labels have closed materially above the plain-label band — Stack's Bowers closed an NGC Proof-70 Ultra Cameo example at $264 in October 2024 when silver was far lower, and GreatCollections has closed Mercanti signed-label Proof-70 examples separately. Researched band $420 to $650 at current silver; asking price sits at the top of that band on grade, relief and signature.
See 2016-P Australia $8 Wedge-Tailed Eagle 5 oz Silver High Relief — PCGS PR70DCAM, Mercanti Signed in hand — and how it looks from the mint
World mint commemorative silver — as issued by the mint
Modern world-mint commemoratives are struck to proof or prooflike standard, capsuled at the mint and shipped in original government packaging with a numbered certificate of authenticity. Mintages are capped in advance and never re-struck, so the population of top-graded survivors is fixed the day the series closes.
Reference plates illustrate the series as issued and are provided for comparison only. The photograph on the left is the piece you are buying.
What makes this silver piece unique
Perfect PR70
A flawless proof grade — the ceiling of the proof census for the issue.
Mercanti signed label
Hand-signed label from John Mercanti, the 12th Chief Engraver of the United States Mint. Signed labels are a finite, dated pedigree — the signing sessions are over.
Signed pedigree label
A hand-signed grading label adds a documented pedigree that cannot be replicated once the signing program ends.
Fixed mintage: Strictly limited high relief proof release
The mint closed this issue years ago. Nothing new enters the market; the only supply is the surviving population, and every certified example that gets cracked, cleaned or damaged shrinks it further.
Documented auction record
Public results for comparable examples reach $264 realised for an NGC Proof-70 Ultra Cameo example at Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice Online Auction. We price against those results, not against a guess.
One in the vault — when it sells, it is gone
This is a single-piece listing. We do not restock certified coins: once it ships, the listing closes and the next example we find will be a different coin, at a different price.
Priced on merit, not melt
Raw silver is a commodity; a graded, designated survivor is not. This piece is priced on grade, designation, pedigree and the public sold results behind it — which is why it holds a premium that spot alone never explains.
Verify the series yourself: NGC certification lookup · PCGS certification lookup
2016-P Australia $8 Wedge-Tailed Eagle 5 oz Silver High Relief — PCGS PR70DCAM, Mercanti Signed — full detail and sales comparisons
Open any section below for the complete record of the exact piece photographed on this page: its history and design, the specification sheet, grading notes, and how the highest public sale prices for comparable examples compare with what we are asking today.
2016-P Australia $8 Wedge-Tailed Eagle, 5 oz .999 fine silver high relief proof from the Perth Mint, graded PCGS PR70DCAM on a Mercanti signed label. One example held.
The Wedge-Tailed Eagle series is the only Perth Mint programme designed by an American: John M. Mercanti, twelfth Chief Engraver of the United States Mint and the man behind the American Silver Eagle reverse, was commissioned by Perth in 2014 to create it. The 2016 five-ounce high relief proof is the flagship of that year — a heavily domed strike that required multiple press blows, finished as a deep cameo proof with frosted devices against black mirror fields. PR70DCAM is the top of the proof scale with the strongest cameo contrast the service recognises, and this example carries Mercanti's own signature on the label. The high relief five-ounce issue was released in a strictly limited mintage, far smaller than the bullion versions of the same design.
The wedge-tailed eagle is Australia's largest bird of prey, with a wingspan reaching well past two metres, and it has been a fixture of Australian iconography for as long as the continent has had coinage. Mercanti's treatment shows the bird perched on a bare branch, head turned, talons locked — a study in stillness rather than flight, which is unusual for eagle coinage and is part of why collectors took to the series immediately. The obverse carries Ian Rank-Broadley's effigy of Queen Elizabeth II. The Perth Mint has struck coins on the same site in Western Australia since 1899, originally as a branch of the Royal Mint refining Kalgoorlie gold.
Highest recorded sale: $264 realised for an NGC Proof-70 Ultra Cameo example · Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice Online Auction · October 2024
A high relief die requires more metal movement and more than one strike, which produces a sculptural coin with real depth. It also produces more rejects, which is why perfect-grade high relief coins are scarcer than their mintage suggests.
Perth commissioning the U.S. Mint's former Chief Engraver is a genuine one-off in modern coinage, and it is the reason this series is collected on both sides of the Pacific.
- Metal
- Silver
- Category
- Coins
- Weight
- 5 troy oz
- Purity
- .999 fine
- Mint
- The Perth Mint, Western Australia
- Designer
- John M. Mercanti, 12th Chief Engraver of the United States Mint (reverse); Ian Rank-Broadley (obverse effigy)
- First struck
- 2014 (series); 2016 for this high relief 5 oz proof
- Series
- Australian Wedge-Tailed Eagle
- Mintage
- Strictly limited high relief proof release
- Composition
- .999 fine silver, 5 troy oz
- SKU
- PERTH-2016-WTE-PR70DCAM
- IRA eligible
- No
- Label
- Hand-signed by John M. Mercanti
- Finish
- High relief deep cameo proof
- Catalogue
- KM-2218
- Denomination
- 8 Dollars (Australia)
- Certification
- PCGS PR70DCAM
The highest recorded public sale we found for this issue, grade and pedigree is $264 realised for an NGC Proof-70 Ultra Cameo example · Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice Online Auction · October 2024.
Greysheet lists melt on this five-ounce issue in the low $300s at recent silver, with retail catalogue values from roughly $363 to $500 for ordinary certified examples. Perfect PR70 deep cameo coins on signed labels have closed materially above the plain-label band — Stack's Bowers closed an NGC Proof-70 Ultra Cameo example at $264 in October 2024 when silver was far lower, and GreatCollections has closed Mercanti signed-label Proof-70 examples separately. Researched band $420 to $650 at current silver; asking price sits at the top of that band on grade, relief and signature.
Want the itemised sold results we used? Call or text (800) 200-9553 and we will send the comparison sheet for this exact piece.
Every listing is researched against live metal spot and recent public sold results, then a person confirms the final number before it goes live. The price shown is all-in — no commission is added at checkout beyond insured shipping, which is stated before you confirm.
Once you start checkout your price is held for 72 hours while you fund.
No. The 2016-P Australia $8 Wedge-Tailed Eagle 5 oz Silver High Relief — PCGS PR70DCAM, Mercanti Signed is intended for direct personal ownership rather than a retirement account. If you are funding an IRA, ask us which comparable products qualify.
This item is call for pricing. A specialist quotes one all-in number based on the live silver market, grade and quantity at the moment your order is confirmed — covering fabrication, handling, insured delivery and our margin — and locks it on the call, exactly the way an IRA purchase is priced.
Yes. We quote a live bid on products we sold you, subject to verification of authenticity, condition and quantity. We do not guarantee a specific buy-back price, and there is a spread between our sell and buy prices.
Direct purchases ship fully insured with signature required on delivery. Metals purchased inside an IRA are shipped directly to your custodian's approved depository and never to your home.
Specifications
- Metal
- Silver
- Category
- Coins
- Weight
- 5 troy oz
- Purity
- .999 fine
- SKU
- PERTH-2016-WTE-PR70DCAM
- Availability
- Last one available
- IRA eligible
- No
This listing is informational and is not an offer to sell at a fixed price. Quantities and premiums change throughout the trading day; your price is locked only when a specialist confirms the order.
Get today's all-in price on the 2016-P Australia $8 Wedge-Tailed Eagle 5 oz Silver High Relief — PCGS PR70DCAM, Mercanti Signed
Call or text (800) 200-9553. Monday – Friday, 7am – 4pm Pacific.