Mint State Gold

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American Eagle coins were issued following the signing of the Gold Bullion Coin Act of 1985 by then President Reagan. In response to the sanctions imposed against apartheid South Africa, and the resulting decline in sales of the popular gold Krugerrand, the Gold Bullion Coin Act legislation gave the U.S. an opportunity to create a bullion coin of their own as a replacement.

 

The American Gold Eagle would be the first gold coin issued by the U.S. in 50 years. Released by the United States Mint in 1986, the act also stipulated that all coins be minted from newly mined domestic sources of gold.

 

The image on the coin’s obverse would be the design of one the most distinguished American sculptors and monument builders of his time, Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Saint-Gaudens is also notable for his design of the $10 Indian Head Gold coin. The family of eagles in a nest of olive branches on the coin’s reverse was designed in 1986 by American sculptor Miley Tucker-Frost.

 

Since its introduction in 1986, American Eagle coins has been issued for every subsequent year. The coin has become one of the most popular sovereign coins for collectors and investors. Mint State Gold has proudly assisted Collectors and Investors alike for decades as we have been one of the world’s largest market makers in American Eagle coins.

 

Based on our research and client experiences at Mint State Gold by Stuppler, this is what you may expect when you purchase an American Eagle:

 

• A coin of high liquidity – among the best on the market – and reliably easy to trade
• A choice of coins in all four precious metals
• A choice of different strike types (Business, Proof, and Burnished)
• American Eagle coins are currently minted at the West Point Mint in West Point, New York
• A coin recognized as legal tender – though the coin’s intrinsic value will always be greater than its face value
• A guarantee by the U.S. government that each coin includes the amount of actual gold weight, in Troy ounces, on the back of the coin
• The 1907 design created by American sculptor August Saint Gaudens on the coin’s obverse from the original Saint Gaudens coin
• On the reverse, a stunning design of a proud eagle by the U.S. Mint’s Chief Engraver, John M. Mercanti
• Coins available in 1/10 of an ounce, 1/4 of an ounce, 1/2 of an ounce, and 1 ounce denominations
• A coin that generally sells at higher premiums than bars or rounds
• A coin that continues to be popular year after year
• Available as Bullion, Bullion Plus, and Investment grade

 

 

At Mint State Gold by Stuppler we find that American Eagle coins are ideal for modern collectors and investors building sets or just adding to their bullion holdings of precious metals. It is also IRA Eligible and give clients an excellent option to help diversify their retirement holdings.

 

American Eagle Coins Specifications

 

Gold and Silver Eagles

Metal(s) Produced	Gold	Gold	Gold	Gold	Silver
Purity	22 Karats	22 Karats	22 Karats	22 Karats	99.9%
Year(s) Minted	1986 to Present	1986 to Present	1986 to Present	1986 to Present	1986 to Present
Where Minted	West Point	West Point	West Point	West Point	West Point/San Francisco
Composition	1oz Gold, 0.032oz Silver, 0.058oz Copper	0.5oz Gold, 0.016oz Silver, 0.029oz Copper	0.25oz Gold, 0.008oz Silver, 0.014oz Copper	0.1oz Gold, 0.0032oz Silver, 0.0058oz Copper	1oz Silver
Total Weight	1.09 troy oz	0.55 troy oz	0.27 troy oz	0.109 troy oz	1 troy oz
Denomination	$50	$25	$10	$5	$1
Thickness	2.87 mm	2.24 mm	1.83 mm	1.19 mm	2.98 mm
Diameter	32.7 mm	27 mm	22 mm	16.5 mm	40.6 mm
Strike Type(s)	Business/ Proof/ Burnished	Business/ Proof/ Burnished	Business/ Proof/ Burnished	Business/ Proof/ Burnished	Business/ Proof/ Burnished

 

Platinum and Palladium Eagles

Metal(s) Produced	Platinum	Platinum	Platinum	Platinum	Palladium
Purity	99.95%	99.95%	99.95%	99.95%	99.95%
Year(s) Minted	1997 to Present	1997 to 2008	1997 to 2008	1997 to 2008	2017 to Present
Where Minted	West Point/Philadelphia	West Point/Philadelphia	West Point/Philadelphia	West Point/Philadelphia	Philadelphia
Composition	1oz Platinum	1/2oz Platinum	1/4oz Platinum	1/10oz Platinum	1oz Palladium
Total Weight	1 troy oz	1/2 troy oz	1/4 troy oz	1/10 troy oz	1 troy oz
Denomination	$100	$50	$25	$10	$25
Thickness	2.5 mm	1.75 mm	1.32 mm	0.94 mm	2.5 mm
Diameter	32.7 mm	27 mm	22 mm	16.5 mm	34.1
Strike Type(s)	Business/ Proof/ Burnished	Business/ Proof/ Burnished	Business/ Proof/ Burnished	Business/ Proof/ Burnished	Business/ Proof

 

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The American Buffalo Gold has the distinction of being the first 24-karat (.9999 pure gold) and purest gold coin produced in the United States. When the coin was issued in 2006, it met with great success.

 

The coin’s classic design was taken from a previous minting as it appeared in 1913. The iconic relief was created by American sculptor James Earle Fraser, who may be better known for his famous End of the Trail sculpture depicting a Native American man hunched despairingly over his horse (a rendering was notably featured on The Beach Boys album cover for Surf’s Up). On the coin’s obverse is the head of an Indian Chief believed to have been rendered based on the faces of three different chiefs from the early 20^th century. The coin’s reverse displays an image of the magnificent bison “Black Diamond” from New York’s Central Park Zoo that Fraser had used as a model.

 

Over the years the American Buffalo Gold has been one of the top three in-demand gold coins and is highly sought after by both bullion investors and collectors alike. The coin’s high purity makes it an attractive choice for those looking to strengthen their gold portfolio. Released 20 years after the debut of the American Gold Eagle, the Gold Buffalo coin offers a great opportunity for investors and collectors to build quality sets in any or all of the strike types.

 

More specifics about the American Buffalo Gold:

• Over the years about 2 million ounces of Gold Buffalo coin have been produced.
• The American Buffalo is a coin that’s reliably easy to trade
• The coin was issued to compete with other foreign 24-karat gold bullion coins
• Fractional sizes were available in 2008 only; these coins were issued to commemorate the date 8-8-08 and were a specially-packaged Double Prosperity Set which featured a 1/2 ounce Gold Buffalo coin; only 7,751 of these sets were made
• Be aware that copy “cladded” or “plated” versions of the Gold Buffalo coin were issued by private mints for sale on television; they were not bullion coins issued by the U.S. Mint and they are not the same diameter as genuine coins. They are purely replicas made by private mints with less then. 0.01% the gold content.

 

Though not produced for as long as the American Eagle, the American Buffalo Gold has shown to be a popular coin across the world. To learn more about the American Buffalo Gold and see how it could fit into your investment portfolio, please contact us here and an experienced Mint State Gold representative will be happy to see how we can assist you.

 

American Buffalo Gold Specifications

 

Metal(s) Produced	Gold	Gold	Gold	Gold
Purity	24 Karats	24 Karats	24 Karats	24 Karats
Year(s) Minted	2006 to Present	2008	2008	2008
Where Minted	West Point	West Point	West Point	West Point
Composition	1oz Gold	1/2oz Gold	1/4oz Gold	1/10oz Gold
Total Weight	1 troy ounce	1/2 troy oz	1/4 troy oz	1/10 troy oz
Denomination	$50	$25	$10	$5
Thickness	2.95 mm	2.24 mm	1.83 mm	1.19 mm
Diameter	32.7 mm	27 mm	22 mm	16.5 mm
Strike Type(s)	Business/ Proof/ Burnished	Proof/ Burnished	Proof/ Burnished	Proof/ Burnished

 

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The Saint Gaudens Double Eagle is generally considered one of the most beautiful coins ever created. It is known as the Double Eagle for its gold content which is twice that of the $10 Eagle (about 1/2oz of gold), this makes $20 Saint Gaudens coin almost one ounce of pure gold.

 

Like the Morgan Silver Dollar, the Saint Gaudens Double Eagle has the distinction of sharing its name of the coin’s designer, in this case Irish-born American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Other notable accomplishments of Saint-Gaudens include the $10 Indian Head Gold coin and the equestrian statue of William Tecumseh Sherman standing in New York’s Central Park.

 

The Saint Gaudens coin was produced by the U.S. Mint from 1907 to 1933 and features quite an illustrious history:

In an effort to raise the aesthetic quality of American coinage, in 1904 the president Theodore Roosevelt sought out the young designer Saint-Gaudens, much to the consternation of the Mint’s Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber; thus increasing a conflict between Saint-Gaudens and Barber, who’d already shared a contentious history. Legend was that Barber owed his position to his father, the previous Chief Engraver, and saw the talented younger designers thriving under him as threats. As the story goes, much conflict of egos and claims of undeserved merit would plague his career. Revisionists have argued that both Saint-Gaudens and Charles Barber were talents in their own right but just couldn’t find an effective way of communicating. The competitive friction between the two men would be short-lived – before the coin was issued, Saint-Gaudens would die suddenly in 1907 from colon cancer. The coin would be finalized without him.

 

Other changes: The motto In God We Trust was omitted from the original design at President Roosevelt’s request. Because of his traditional understanding of scripture, Roosevelt believed that adding the word God to money was sacrilege. An act of Congress in mid-1908 as a response to a flurry of citizens’ complaints reversed the omission. The word was added but not before one and a half years of coinage and almost five million coins were struck without the motto. After, many of the original production were lost due to meltings following the nation’s abandonment of the Gold Standard.

 

The Saint Gaudens Double Eagle would go on to be not only one of the world’s most famous coins, but also one that today occupies two places in the world’s Top 5 Most Expensive Coins Sold at Auction.

 

The Gold $20 Saint Gaudens coin gives everyone from bullion investors to high-end collectors an opportunity to add a substantial collectible coin to their portfolio. Historically, this coin has been in such demand that many of the investment quality and rare coins acquired by our clients have shown on average double digit returns on investment!

 

Other notable features of the Saint Gaudens Double Eagle:

 

• A coin also referred to as a Double Eagle was minted from 1849-1907 with a personification of Liberty on the obverse and an eagle and shield on the reverse; it was designed by James B. Longacre and was the coin Roosevelt sought to replace with Saint-Gaudens’ design
• The Saint Gaudens coin is the number one collected and invested series in Pre-Modern Gold Coins today
• At the request of President Roosevelt, who’d been impressed by coins of Alexander the Great, coins with a high relief were struck; a limited number of coins were produced as such coins are difficult to stack and subject to damage and technically difficult to produce on a mass scale; Charles E. Barber, the Mint engraver, insisted on a lower relief version and so high relief was replaced with a “business issue”
• Other variations included the use of Roman numerals with the first issues in 1907 – this would change later that year to Arabic numerals; also, when New Mexico and Arizona became states in 1912, the number of stars along the rim was increased from 46 to 48
• Roman numerals were returned for the mintage of American Gold Eagles in 1986 -1991; these are the only instances of Roman numerals on U.S. coinage
• In 1986, the U.S. Treasury again used Saint-Gaudens’ Liberty design on the obverse of American Gold Eagle gold bullion coins, where it has since remained

 

Mint State Gold proudly offers our clients a comprehensive selection of $20 Saint Gaudens coins graded by the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) or Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) – two leading industry bodies whose standards are universally accepted. We also have beautiful ungraded coins in Brilliant Uncirculated (BU) and AU (About Uncirculated) condition.

 

To learn more about the Saint Gaudens Double Eagle and see how it could fit into your investment portfolio, please contact us here and an experienced Mint State Gold representative will be happy to assist you anyway we can.

 

Saint Gaudens Double Eagle Specifications

Metal(s) Produced	Gold
Purity	90% Gold and 10% Copper
Year(s) Minted	1907 to 1933
Where Minted	Philadelphia/ Denver/ San Francisco
Composition	0.9675oz AGW and 0.1075oz Copper
Total Weight	1.075 troy oz
Denomination	$20
Thickness	2.41 mm
Diameter	34.1 mm
Strike Type(s)	Business / Proof

 

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The legacy of the American Liberty coins begin with the birth of U.S. coinage: And like much of history, accounts can vary. Possibly the most reliable version of the story begins with the first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton. His proposal for a mint and coinage system in 1791 planned for both a gold and silver dollar coin. Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin also contributed research and input toward these early coins.

 

Until the introduction of a U.S. currency, trades were made for goods such as tobacco, or with foreign coins. When Washington tossed his legendary silver dollar across the Potamac, dollars didn’t exist. (More likely the coin was a Spanish 8 Reales.)

 

Hamilton’s plans for new U.S. coinage included a profile of President George Washington. For his part, Washington thought putting his image on a coin was something more befitting a monarchy than a republic. Instead, an allegorical image of Liberty was chosen. Plans included a $1 Dollar coin to be produced in gold and silver but congress only authorized the Silver Dollar.

 

The first Liberty coins struck in 1793 and were not to be gold or silver but copper. The use of precious metals was delayed because of a failure to secure the necessary $10,000 performance bonds. (Imagine the difficulties of funding a country without a currency.) It’d be two more years before the first gold coins were produced but no gold dollars until 1831. At the time, they were produced by a private mint in North Carolina.

 

Other features of the American Liberty coins:

• Minted between 1849 and 1907, the coins were produced in three slight variations across the five mints operating at the time: Philadelphia, San Francisco, New Orleans, Carson City, and Denver
• The illustrious $20 Liberty Gold coin is one of the top three selling Pre-Modern gold coins collected today along with Saint Gaudens coin and the Peace Dollar.
• The coin’s obverse was designed by the 4^th Chief Engraver of the U.S. Mint from 1844-1869, James Barton Longacre; under Longacre’s direction the Mint was infamous for its number of blunders including coins with double dates, superimposed horizontal numbers – Longacre was known to have conflicts with his staff and work was often done without his consult
• The obverse image of Liberty was inspired by the ancient Greco-Roman sculpture Crouching Venus; the coin depicts a left-facing Lady Liberty wearing a pearl-studded diadem inscribed with the word LIBERTY
• The reverse is modeled after the Great Seal of the U.S. featuring a heraldic eagle with a striped shield on its breast and 13 stars resting above representing the original colonies

 

Due to the wide range of sizes and years minted of the American Gold Liberty, many of these pieces have seen excellent appreciation in the long run as well as recent years.

 

To learn more about the American Liberty Coins and see how it would be able to fit into your investment portfolio, please contact us here and an experienced Mint State Gold representative will be happy to see how we can assist you.

Liberty Coins Specifications

 

Metal(s) Produced	Gold	Gold	Gold	Gold	Gold
Purity	90% Gold and 10% Copper	90% Gold and 10% Copper	90% Gold and 10% Copper	90% Gold and 10% Copper	90% Gold and 10% Copper
Year(s) Minted	1849-1907	1838-1907	1839-1908	1840-1907	1849-1889
Where Minted	Philadelphia/ Carson City/ New Orleans/ Denver/ San Francisco	Philadelphia/ Carson City/ New Orleans/ Denver/ San Francisco	Philadelphia/ Carson City/ New Orleans/ Denver/ San Francisco	Philadelphia/ Charlotee/ Dahlonega, New Orleans/ San Francisco	Philadelphia/ Charlotte/ Dahlonego, New Orleans/ San Francisco
Composition	0.9675oz AGW and 0.1075oz Copper	0.48375 AGW and 0.053 Copper	0.2419 AGW and 0.027 Copper	0.1209 AGW and 0.013 Copper	0.0483 AGW and 0.0055 Copper
Total Weight	1.075 troy oz	0.537 troy oz	0.269 troy oz	0.134 troy oz	0.0538 troy oz
Denomination	$20	$10	$5	$2.50	$1
Thickness	2.41 mm	2.03 mm	1.59 mm	1.27 mm	0.76 mm
Diameter	34 mm	27 mm	21.6 mm	18 mm	13 mm
Strike Type(s)	Business/ Proof	Business/ Proof	Business/ Proof	Business/ Proof	Business/ Proof

 

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