The American Gold Eagle is an official

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

bullion coin Bullion is non-ferrous metal that has been refined to a high standard of elemental purity. The term is ordinarily applied to bulk metal used in the production of coins and especially to precious metals such as gold and silver. It comes fro ...

of the United States. Authorized under the Gold Bullion Coin Act of 1985, it was first released by the

United States Mint The United States Mint is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury responsible for producing coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce, as well as controlling the movement of bullion. It does not produce paper money; tha ...

in 1986. Because the term "

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

" also is the official United States designation for pre-1933 ten dollars gold coins, the weight of the bullion coin is typically used when describing American Gold Eagles (e.g., "1/2-ounce American Gold Eagle") to avoid confusion. This is particularly true with the 1/4-oz American Gold Eagle, which has a marked face value of ten dollars.

Details

Offered in 1/10 oz, 1/4 oz, 1/2 oz, and 1 oz denominations, these coins are guaranteed by the U.S. government to contain the stated amount of actual gold weight in

troy ounce Troy weight is a system of units of mass that originated in 15th-century England, and is primarily used in the precious metals industry. The troy weight units are the grain, the pennyweight (24 grains), the troy ounce (20 pennyweights), and th ...

s. By law, the gold must come from sources in the United States, alloyed with silver and copper to produce a more wear-resistant coin. In addition, sales of these and other specie coins from the US Mint are mandated, at least in part, to pay off the national debt. The 22 kt gold alloy is an English standard traditionally referred to as "

crown gold Crown gold is a 22 karat (kt) gold alloy used in the crown coin introduced in England in 1526 (by Henry VIII). In this alloy, the proportion of gold is 22 parts out of 24 (91.667% gold)—and is appreciably less prone to wear than the softer 23 k ...

". Crown gold alloys had not been used in U.S. coins since 1834, with the gold content having dropped since 1837 to a standard of 0.900 fine for U.S. gold coins. For American Gold Eagles the gold fraction was increased again to .9167 or (22

karat The fineness of a precious metal object (coin, bar, jewelry, etc.) represents the weight of ''fine metal'' therein, in proportion to the total weight which includes alloying base metals and any impurities. Alloy metals are added to increase hardne ...

). It is authorized by the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

and is backed by the United States Mint for weight and content. The obverse design features a rendition of

Augustus Saint-Gaudens Augustus Saint-Gaudens (; March 1, 1848 – August 3, 1907) was an American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who embodied the ideals of the American Renaissance. From a French-Irish family, Saint-Gaudens was raised in New York City, he trave ...

' full-length figure of Lady Liberty with flowing hair, holding a torch in her right hand and an olive branch in her left, with the Capitol building in the left background. The design is taken from the $20 Saint-Gaudens gold coin which was commissioned by Theodore Roosevelt to create coins like the ancient Greek and Roman coins. Since 2021, the reverse design by designer Jennie Norris features a close-up side profile of an eagle. From 1986 to 2021, the reverse design by sculptor Miley Busiek featured a male eagle carrying an olive branch flying above a nest containing a female eagle and her eaglet.

Specifications

Gold Eagles minted 1986–1991 are dated with

Roman numerals Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...

. In 1992, the U.S. Mint switched to

Arabic numerals Arabic numerals are the ten numerical digits: , , , , , , , , and . They are the most commonly used symbols to write Decimal, decimal numbers. They are also used for writing numbers in other systems such as octal, and for writing identifiers ...

for dating Gold Eagles. The 1/10, 1/4, and 1/2 troy oz coins are identical in design to the 1 troy oz coin except for the markings on the reverse side that indicate the weight and face value of the coin (for example, ''1 OZ. fine gold~50 dollars''). The print on the smaller coins is, therefore, finer and less legible than on larger denominations. The 22k gold alloyed makeup of Gold Eagle coins stands in contrast to the 24k Gold Buffalo Coin, which is minted entirely from .9999 fine gold, and therefore weighs less (1 troy oz or 31.1035 grams gross).

Value

The market value of the coins is generally about equal to the market value of their gold content, not their face value. Like all commodities, this value fluctuates with market forces. The face values are proportional to the weights except for the 1/4 oz coin. While their actual selling price (purchasing power) varies based on the current spot price of gold, these coins carry face values of $5, $10, $25, and $50. These are their legal values, reflecting their issue and monetized value as "Gold Dollars", as opposed to standard bullion. They are

legal tender Legal tender is a form of money that courts of law are required to recognize as satisfactory payment for any monetary debt. Each jurisdiction determines what is legal tender, but essentially it is anything which when offered ("tendered") in pa ...

for all debts public and private at their face values. These face values do not reflect their intrinsic value which is much greater and is mainly dictated by their weight and the current

precious metal Precious metals are rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical elements of high economic value. Chemically, the precious metals tend to be less reactive than most elements (see noble metal). They are usually ductile and have a high lustre. ...

price. For example, on September 13, 2019, the U.S. Mint sold the 2016 one-ounce coin ($50 face value) at $1,510.00. Since the coins can be "paid" only at a disadvantage to the payer, they are generally held as collectibles rather than money, and for US taxpayers are subject to a high capital gains tax rate unless held in an

individual retirement account An individual retirement account (IRA) in the United States is a form of pension provided by many financial institutions that provides tax advantages for retirement savings. It is a trust that holds investment assets purchased with a taxpayer's ear ...

. In addition to standard bullion coins (sometimes referred to as "scruffies"), the United States Mint also produces proof and uncirculated versions for

coin collectors Coin collecting is the collecting of coins or other forms of minted legal tender. Coins of interest to collectors often include those that were in circulation for only a brief time, coins with mint errors, and especially beautiful or historic ...

. These coins carry the Mint's mark ("W") beneath the date, and are produced exclusively at the

West Point Mint The West Point Mint is a U.S. Mint production and depository facility erected in 1937 near the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, United States. the mint holds 22% of the United States' gold reserves, or approximately 54 million oun ...

West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York, West Point was identified by General George Washington as the most important strategic position in America during the Ame ...

(formerly the West Point Bullion Depository).

Mintage figures

The figures listed below are the final audited mintages from the U.S. Mint and include coins sold both individually and as part of multi-coin sets.

Historical bullion volumes

Historical proof volumes

During the series' initial year, the Mint only issued 1 troy oz proofs. It added troy oz proofs in 1987 and since 1988 released proof variants of all four denominations. In 2009, due to increased worldwide demand for precious metals that precipitated sourcing problems and the Mint's legal obligations to produce bullion versions, proof and uncirculated versions of the Gold Eagle were not issued.

Historical uncirculated volumes

In 2009, the allocation of blanks towards the legally required production of bullion Gold Eagles affected uncirculated coin availability in addition to proof availability. However, this suspension continued into 2010 for the uncirculated version. When production resumed in 2011, without the fractional denominations which were discontinued in 2008, it was met with a weak collector response. The United States Mint provided audited and finalized annual production sales reports between 2006-2012. Afterwards, production sales numbers were provided by the United States Mint with weekly cumulative sales reports. Volume number is the Last Known Sale (LKS), which is the last sales figure published for that product before removed from the sales report.

References

External links

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Gold Eagle Guide
{{Augustus Saint-Gaudens Gold Eagle Currencies introduced in 1986 Goddess of Liberty on coins Eagles on coins Bullion coins of the United States Gold bullion coins