American Buffalo Gold Coin

Composition

Also known as a gold buffalo, the American Buffalo Gold Coin is a 24-karat bullion coin. This timeless coin was first minted by the United States Mint in 2006. It is the first coin of the United States Government that is pure 0.9999 24-karat gold. In addition to its first-time purity, it happened to increase in value greatly in just a few years. This is because of large increases in gold value following shortly after its creation. This in addition to its original popularity, made it a highly valuable coin. Subsequently, the price went from $800 in 2006 to $1,410 in 2009 and then up to $2,010 in 2011.

Design

The American Buffalo Gold coin is a modification of James Earle Fraser’s Indian Head Nickel coin originating in 1913. Not only is James Earle Fraser an esteemed sculpture, but his Indian Head Nickel is well as one of the best designs of any US coin. The obverse of the coin depicts a Native American which is a mixture of features of three chiefs from different American Indian tribes, Big Tree, Iron Tail, and Two Moons. Further, the obverse shows the motto “LIBERTY”, the letter F for Fraser, and the year of mintage. The reverse of the coin features “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” along with the motto “E PLURIBUS UNUM”. “IN GOD WE TRUST” also appears on the coin along with the previous slogans.

American Buffalo Gold Coin Background

The American Buffalo Gold Coin was actually originally made to compete with foreign 24-karat gold bullion coins. In many instances, investors prefer 99.99% pure gold as opposed to 91.67% gold that American Gold Eagle‘s consist of. Because of this, the United States Government hopes to increase the amount of US gold sales in 24-karat gold and prevent investors from turning to the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf coin. However, in September 2008, the US Mint would briefly halt sales of the American Buffalo Gold Coin. This was because the soaring demand was too high to keep up with following the subprime mortgage crisis of the late 2000’s.