The American GOLD eagle. A true collectors coin....

A few days ago, I talked about the worlds most recognisable silver coin, the American SILVER Eagle, and gave a brief overview of why people love it so much. For today's blog, I'm going to talk about its "big brother", the American Gold Eagle. Although the American Gold Eagle program debuted in 1986 like the American Silver Eagle, it was established under a different 1985 law than the silver coins.

The Gold Bullion Act of 1985 that authorized the minting of American gold investment coins in four sizes (1 ounce, ½ ounce, ¼ ounce, and 1/10th ounce) came about because of a combination of lobbying efforts by gold mining interests and several years of legislative efforts by Rep. Ron Paul. The law stipulated that the gold used to make the coins had to come from “gold mined from natural deposits within the United States” and that the coins would be made of 22 karat gold that includes small amounts of silver and copper in their alloy to make them harder.

Another reason the new Gold Eagles were made of 22 karat (.9167 pure) gold was so that the coins would compete with the South African gold Krugerrand issued since 1967, which dominated the gold coin market.

That was until 1979 when the Royal Canadian Mint introduced the Gold Maple Leaf, the first .999 pure gold bullion coin.

But from 1985 to 1994, Americans were unable to purchase gold Krugerrands because of apartheid , the South African policy of racial segregation and political oppression of the majority Black population. In addition, the 1980s were a period of great economic uncertainty after a deep recession during the first part of the decade and investors were looking for a safe haven asset made in the United States.

History

American Gold Eagles soon emerged as the world’s most popular gold bullion coin, but by the end of the decade, Maple Leaf coins had regained their top status with the growing demand for pure gold coins. Today, Gold Eagles dominate the U.S. gold coin market and carry the highest premiums over spot value and have the greatest liquidity of any bullion coins in the United states. From the beginning, Gold Eagle coins have been issued in both bullion and Proof in the four sizes.

From 1986 through 2020 the obverse of these coins has featured the hugely popular design of a striding Lady Liberty carrying a torch, while the reverse has featured Miley Tucker-Frost’s design of a family of eagles that shows the male carrying an olive branch and flying above the nest with the female and hatchlings.

2018 Burnished Unc

Then, in 2006, Burnished Uncirculated coins with a satin finish were added but only issued in all four sizes for three years until 2008. In 2009 and 2010, demand for bullion was so high that only the $50 one-ounce coin was issued, and since 2011 Proof and bullion coins of all sizes have been releases as well as the Burnished coin in the one-ounce size.

In addition, in 2006 for the 20th anniversary, the United States Mint also released some special anniversary sets, including a three-coin one-ounce American Gold Eagle 20th anniversary set with 9,996 sold that included a Reverse Proof unique to the set and a Proof and burnished example.

To be announced

Starting in 2021, the bullion coins will feature a new reverse design of an eagle that will soon be announced.

Just like the silver version, on November 5, the U.S. Mint will release the first-ever privy marked Gold Eagle with a “V75” privy to mark the 75th anniversary of World War II. This coin will carry an astonishingly low mintage of 1,945 coins to coincide with the year the war ended and will be not only the lowest Proof issue but also by far the lowest mintage Gold Eagle ever and is likely to maintain that status going forward.

Want to find out more about gold and silver? Get the latest news, guides and information by following the best community on the blockchain - #silvergoldstackers. We're a group of like minded precious metal stackers that love to chat, share ideas and spread the word about the benefits of "stacking". Please feel free to leave a comment below or join us in the community page, or on discord.