Mint State Gold

Most gold dealer’s websites list excellent reasons for owning gold, such as diversification, protection against currency devaluation, and profiting from capital gains. Many of these companies, however, are more interested in profiting from selling you a “product” than in giving you the critically important information you need to make an informed decision. Mint State Gold wants you to have these vital facts before you make your first gold investment . . . .

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

Platinum and Palladium Eagles

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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

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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

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