A 4-4-0 steam locomotive, the Mason Machine Works–built "Highland Light" of 1867, travels left to right above the legend "THE HIGHLAND LIGHT" and the date "1867."
The Great Seal of the United States: an eagle with wings displayed, an olive branch and bundle of arrows in its talons, a federal shield on its breast, and thirteen stars above with "IN GOD WE TRUST" spelled out within the star cluster, framed by a beaded border. The legend reads "GREAT SEAL OF THE UNITED STATES," with "1 TROY OZ .999 FINE SILVER MADE IN USA BY AMC" struck along the base.
Manufacturer confirmed to American Medallion Corporation via the spelled-out "MADE IN USA BY AMC" reverse legend. Year attributed to 1987 per site convention for undated AMC rounds (post-TIM brand adoption), not a struck date. Distributor attributed to Robert E. Westfall Inc. from AMC's documented distribution pattern, not direct evidence for this round. Issuer is Unknown pending primary documentation. A separately engraved, GSM-marked Highland Light round exists from a different manufacturer and is not part of this entry.
The 1867 Highland Light locomotive round was also struck by GSM in much higher numbers (200+), but this AMC strike is extremely scarce — only three sales of the AMC version have ever been recorded. Prices have ranged from the high-$20s to a recent premium sale near $87.
| Date | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 7, 2026 | 86.58 | Most RecentHighest EverUnverifiedPersonal purchase (Tex, eBay seller henrycdeane, "Original First Mint" AMC strike); kept as real sale |
| Nov 16, 2024 | 26.27 | |
| Sep 28, 2024 | 30.00 |
Scroll for full 3-sale history ↓
1987 Highland Light AMC Silver Round Overview
The 1987 Highland Light AMC Silver Round depicts a 4-4-0 “American type” steam locomotive, struck above the legend “THE HIGHLAND LIGHT” and the date “1867” running along the base of the obverse — not a mint date, but the locomotive’s own historical build year, immortalized on a late-1980s private-mint bullion round from American Medallion Corporation (AMC) of Houston, Texas.
The real Highland Light was built in 1867 by Mason Machine Works of Taunton, Massachusetts — one of 754 locomotives the firm produced between 1853 and 1889, and a builder known for ornate, polished, easy-to-repair engines rather than strictly utilitarian ones. The locomotive entered service on the Cape Cod Central Railroad and later ran as engine #55 under the Old Colony Railroad after it absorbed the Cape Cod line, reaching as far as Wellfleet, Massachusetts by 1870 on runs bound to and from Boston. Its name almost certainly honors Highland Light — also called Cape Cod Light — the historic lighthouse in North Truro, Massachusetts, first built in 1797 at the order of George Washington and rebuilt in its present brick form in 1857, still an active aid to navigation today (and relocated some 450 feet inland in 1996 to escape coastal erosion). Naming a Cape-line locomotive after the Cape’s own landmark lighthouse fits period railroading practice of giving named engines regional significance, and gave AMC a vivid piece of New England railroad history to put on a bullion round more than a century later.
The reverse carries AMC’s rendition of the Great Seal of the United States — the heraldic eagle with wings displayed, an olive branch in one talon and a bundle of arrows in the other, a federal shield across its breast, and a constellation of thirteen stars overhead with the motto “IN GOD WE TRUST” spelled out within the star cluster, all framed by a beaded border. The arched legend reads “GREAT SEAL OF THE UNITED STATES,” with “1 TROY OZ .999 FINE SILVER MADE IN USA BY AMC” struck along the base — a spelled-out manufacturer identification that, per this site’s attribution standard, counts as a mint mark in its own right. This same motto-reverse die appears across several other AMC celebrity and novelty-subject rounds of the period, including tributes to Groucho Marx, a parody of Anheuser-Busch’s “Spuds MacKenzie” mascot, and a 1950s-style pickup truck — confirming it as one of AMC’s standard stock reverses rather than something unique to this round.
1987 Highland Light AMC Silver Round Attribution
This round carries no struck mint date — the “1867” on the obverse is the locomotive’s own historical build year, not AMC’s strike year. Following this site’s standing convention for undated AMC rounds, production is attributed to 1987, tied to AMC’s documented brand adoption following its name change from Texas International Mint (TIM) — stated as an attribution pending discovery of primary documentation establishing an exact release date, not as a struck date.
Manufacturer attribution to American Medallion Corporation is established by the spelled-out “MADE IN USA BY AMC” line on the reverse, meeting this site’s evidentiary standard of a struck mark on the coin itself. No distributor or issuer documentation — original packaging, period catalog, or COA — has been located specifically for this round, so the Distributor and Issuer fields are left as Unknown pending discovery of primary documentation.
This design is not exclusive to AMC: Golden State Mint (GSM) separately struck a Highland Light locomotive round of its own, carrying a distinct “G.S.M.” mark and a genuinely different, independently engraved obverse die — two separate mints each producing their own version of the same subject, rather than a shared die. That GSM round is a different manufacturer’s product and is not part of this entry.
1987 Highland Light AMC Silver Round Notes
- The real Highland Light was a Mason Machine Works 4-4-0 locomotive, built 1867, which ran the Cape Cod Central Railroad and later the Old Colony Railroad as engine #55.
- The locomotive’s name almost certainly honors Highland Light (Cape Cod Light) in North Truro, Massachusetts — the oldest lighthouse on Cape Cod, dating to 1797.
- Golden State Mint produced a separately engraved Highland Light round under its own mark; it is a distinct product from this AMC round.
- Mintage quantity has not been documented and is recorded as Unknown pending discovery of period sales literature or catalog data.
1987 Highland Light AMC Silver Round References
- Wm. Mason, Taunton, Mass. Locomotive Highland Light — oldprintshop.com
- Locomotive #55 “Highland Light,” Old Colony Railroad — Wellfleet Historical Society
- Documented example examined (this entry)
- Texas Stacker Archives
