U.S. Mint will start selling palladium American Eagle bullion coins in September

(August 7, 2017 - by William T. Gibbs)

The United States Mint will start selling American Eagle palladium coins to authorized purchasers in September, Acting Principal Deputy Mint Director David Motl told Coin World on Aug. 1.

Motl revealed the start of sales in an interview with Coin World senior editor Paul Gilkes at the American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money in Denver.

The bullion coins will be struck at the Philadelphia Mint and like all American Eagle bullion coins, will not have a Mint mark.

A Proof version of the coin will be offered in 2018. It will be struck at the West Point Mint and bear the W Mint mark. It will have same designs as the 2017 bullion version.

Motl told Gilkes that the bullion coins will be struck in sufficient quantities to meet anticipated demand. 

As Coin World reported previously, the coin has been a long time coming. It was authorized under provisions of the American Eagle Palladium Bullion Coin Act of 2010, which calls for production of a 1-ounce palladium coin with a $25 face value. The coin is an extension of the American Eagle bullion coin program.

Like the American Eagle gold, silver, and platinum bullion coins, the American Eagle palladium coins will have distinctive designs, and like the gold and silver issues, the designs will be based on earlier designs by an artist and sculptor active in the early 20th century.

The legislation mandates the obverse design be a high-relief version of sculptor Adolph A. Weinman’s Winged Liberty Head design for the dime struck in 1916. The reverse is mandated to be a high-relief version of the Eagle design Weinman rendered in 1906 for the reverse of the American Institute of Architects’ gold medal first presented in 1907.

This is a developing story.