User Navigation
Online Gold Dealers
Types of Gold Coins
Buying American Gold Eagles
Investing in American Gold Eagles
The American Gold Eagle is the preferred choice for many investors who want to hedge their portfolio with some exposure to bullion. Although there are many options available for those who want to buy gold, the American Gold Eagle enjoys quite a consistent demand. In fact, during the peak of the financial crisis, in 2008, the demand for these coins escalated to such levels that the mint was forced to resort to an allocation system to meet the increasing need. More than 700,000 one ounce coins were produced during that year. Post recession, as more and more people choose to take a cautious approach by investing in bullion, the demand for these coins continues to rise.
About the American Gold Eagle
The American Gold Eagle was struck in 1986 as America’s gold bullion coin when the Congress authorized the minting of coins under the Gold Bullion program. This program was designed to enable investors to invest in precious metals in a convenient and safe manner. Today, this coin is the most popular form of bullion to be purchased by Americans as well as investors from around the world. So far, about 13 million Gold Eagles have been minted and sold.
Quality
The Gold Bullion Act of 1985 decrees that only newly mined sources within the U.S.A should be used as source for the gold used in the American Gold Eagle. Every coin’s purity, weight and content is guaranteed by the U.S. government, making this one of the safest forms in which to invest in this precious metal. Each one ounce Gold Eagle contains 31.1 grams of pure gold combined with a silver- copper alloy that brings the total weight to 33.9 grams. 22 karat gold with 91.7% purity is used to forge these coins to make them more resilient to wear and tear. The assured quality of these coins makes these an investment that has a ready market at all times. For those investors who are looking to add some liquidity to their portfolio, investing a portion of their total funds in Gold Eagles gives some balance, stability as well as liquidity.
Gold Eagle’s as Collector’s Items
Other than the value of the precious metal in these coins, Gold Eagles may also have some additional value as collectibles. This is especially true for the coins minted during the earlier years because many collectors like to own a complete set of coins from this period.
There are different versions of the coin that have been released through the many years of its production. Bullion coins with a standard design and finish are designed purely for gold bullion investment purposes. Proof Gold Eagles are collector’s items that are created with a special high quality finish. A specialized minting process is used to produce these coins wherein special dies are used. For example, the reverse proof Gold Eagle issued in 2006 is a collector’s piece although you can find standard Gold Eagles from the same year in the market as well. A special uncirculated version of the Gold Eagle has also been issued during the years 2006 to 2008. These specially burnished blank coins carry the mint mark to distinguish them from the regular Gold Eagle coinage. Special editions like these are highly sought after by collectors and since they are limited, they are bound to appreciate significantly over time too.
Denominations of Gold Eagle
American Gold Eagles are recognized as legal tender. The U.S. mint produces four denominations of Gold Eagles, each with a specific fractional weight and different face value. The one ounce coin has a face value of $50, the ½ ounce- $25, the 1/4th ounce- $10 and the 1/10th ounce- $5. Bullion coins, purely for investment purpose, have always been available in all four denominations. But, it was only a couple of years after the first coins were struck that proofs or collectibles also began to be sold in all four forms.
No related posts.
