Collecting options for the littlest "gold Eagles" – American Eagle tenth-ounce gold bullion coins – are plentiful.
The tenth-ounce gold coin offers a convenient and inexpensive way to own a precious metal that is aesthetically appealing and resistant to corrosion.
Unlike the American Eagle gold 1-ounce coin, the tenth-ounce piece is "intended to serve as a pocket-size investment, not a unit of commerce," writes Scott A. Travers in One-Minute Coin Expert about gold bullion coins. Since the tenth-ounce coin is literally a tenth the size of the 1-ounce coin, its bullion value is much less, one factor in determining the prices of the various tenth-ounce coins. Even collectors on a limited budget could likely afford a single tenth-ounce gold coin.
Authorized in 1986, American Eagle gold bullion coins were considered an alternative to South Africa's Krugerrand gold bullion coin and other gold coins. Private ownership of many forms of gold was illegal in the United States from 1933 to 1974, including certain kinds of gold coins (among them, such bullion pieces as the Krugerrand). President Franklin Roosevelt imposed restrictions on gold ownership and halted production of gold coins in March 1933, shortly after entering the presidency, but the restriction was lifted in 1974.
Since 1986, the United States Mint has issued American Eagle gold bullion coins in four denominations: $50, $25, $10 and $5. The face value of bullion coins is lower than the metal value. Bullion coin values rise and fall in direct proportion to the value of the metal.
|
Click on image to enlarge
|
|
THE TENTH-OUNCE American Eagle gold coin obverse design of a Striding Liberty is a modified version of the original Augustus Saint-Gaudens classic portrait that first appeared on gold $20 double eagles from 1907 to 1933. The bullion coin's reverse design is of two adult and two younger eagles.
|
Each coin bears varying amounts of pure gold – one ounce in the $50 coin, a half ounce in the $25 piece, a quarter ounce in the $10 coin and a tenth ounce in the $5 coin. Total weight of each coin is a little higher than the gold weight because the gold is alloyed with other metals to make the soft gold a little harder. The coins are composed of 91.7 percent gold, 3 percent silver and 5.33 percent copper (for a fineness of .9167).
According to the Coin World Almanac, some criticism was leveled at the Mint about the "non-traditional" gold content when the composition was first announced. Some buyers wanted a .900 gold content, the composition for U.S. gold coins for 100 years, from 1834 to 1933. However, the .9167 fine composition is virtually identical to the alloy used for U.S. gold coins from 1795 to 1834.
The American Eagle 10-ounce gold bullion is the smallest U.S. coin currently minted with a diameter of 16.5 millimeters (slightly smaller than a dime). It weighs 3.393 grams (0.11 ounce), heavier than the cent and dime.
History
The coins were authorized by the Bullion Coin Act of 1985, which became law Dec. 17, 1985, with the signature of President Ronald Reagan.
The act mandates a reverse design of a family of eagles, according to an article in the October 2006 issue of Coin World's Coin Values magazine. The reverse design is of two adult and two younger eagles, and is intended to reflect American family values. The reverse design is credited to artist Miley Busiek, now known as Miley Tucker-Frost.
The obverse design of Striding Liberty is a modified version of the original Augustus Saint-Gaudens classic portrait, which first appeared on the gold $20 double eagle from 1907 to 1933.
Engravers were Matthew Peloso, obverse and Sherl Joseph Winter, reverse.
Like the original Saint-Gaudens coins, the American Eagle gold coins struck from 1986 to 1991 feature the date in Roman numerals. The Saint-Gaudens coins bore Roman numerals only in 1907.
Finishes
Collectors seeking to build a complete collection of American Eagle tenth-ounce gold coins can choose among three different finishes on the coin, plus several interesting errors.
For most of the existence of the American Eagle gold coins, the Mint produced two versions of each coin annually: an Uncirculated bullion coin primarily sold to investors and a Cameo Proof coin for collectors. In 2006, the Mint added two other finishes for collector sales, a Reverse Proof finish and a new Uncirculated finish, though the Reverse Proof finish was used only on the 1-ounce coin. Coins with the bullion coin Uncirculated finish and the collector coin Uncirculated finish are easily distinguished: the collector version has a W Mint mark and the bullion version does not.
The Uncirculated collector coins are hand-loaded into a coining press, struck on specially burnished blanks and carry the W Mint mark of the U.S. Mint at West Point. Dealers sometimes refer to these pieces as "Burnished Uncirculated" coins to distinguish them from the regular Uncirculated bullion coins.
Proof coins begin as burnished coin blanks manually fed into presses fitted with special dies. The Proof coin is struck multiple times so "softly frosted, yet detailed images seem to float above a mirror-like field," according to the U.S. Mint Web site www.usmint.gov/mint.
|
Click on image to enlarge
|
|
THE USE of (W) or (S or W) Mint mark inside parentheses indicates facility where coin was struck; however, coin does not carry Mint mark. A dash indicates mintage not available.
|
The Uncirculated bullion coins are struck under less exacting standards, though they are not subjected to circulation wear.
Collectors wanting an example of each finish in the tenth-ounce size would need just three pieces: one Uncirculated bullion coin and one Proof coin from among those minted from 1986 to 2007, and one of either the 2006-W or 2007-W coins with the collector Uncirculated finish.
The U.S. Mint offers the Proof 2007-W American Eagle tenth-ounce coin for $104.95 and the Uncirculated 2007-W coin for $89.95. The Uncirculated American Eagle bullion coin should cost about $85. Secondary market prices for high-grade pieces will be higher.
Collectors on a limited budget don't have to limit themselves to one or even three of the tenth-ounce coins.
Fred Schwan in Collecting Coins writes that the tenth-ounce coins are "inexpensive enough … to buy a few just because you like them."
Mint marks
The first American Eagle tenth-ounce gold coin to bear a Mint mark was the Proof 1988-P coin. The P mark for the Philadelphia Mint is located between the second and third rays at right below the date. In 1995 the mark changed to a W for the West Point Mint.
The regular Uncirculated tenth-ounce bullion coins never bore a Mint mark, at least intentionally. The exception is an error coin, dated 1999, struck with an unfinished Proof obverse die bearing the W Mint mark. The die was initially prepared to be shipped to strike Proof coins, but was never fully processed to create the Cameo Proof finish. The die was mistakenly used to strike bullion coins instead.
This was the first major U.S. gold variety produced since the 1909/8 Saint-Gaudens $20 double eagle overdate, according to error specialist Fred Weinberg in a Sept. 23, 2002, issue of Coin World. Grading services in May 2000 agreed to designate these coins as "Mint State" even though they were struck with one die intended for the Proof version according to the Coin World Almanac.
Collectors wanting an example of each Mint mark (intended or not) to appear on an American Eagle gold tenth-ounce coin need just two pieces: one each of the Philadelphia Mint and West Point Mint Proof pieces. (While most of the bullion coins are struck at the West Point Mint, from 1997 to 2000 production was split between the West Point facility and the San Francisco Mint. However, one cannot distinguish between the products of the individual Mints since no Mint marks appear on the coins.)
Other ways to collect
The best place to start a collection is with the first Proof tenth-ounce coin issued in 1988, suggests wholesale dealer Richard Lecce of Robert B. Lecce Numismatist Inc. in Boca Raton, Fla. The Lecce firm traditionally deals in Proof coins graded 69 or 70 by Numismatic Guaranty Corp.
Individuals looking for lower grades may be challenged, however. Some experts estimate 90 percent of the mintage in the first two years was used in jewelry, states the October 2006 Coin Values article. Their size and light-weight serve well for jewelry purposes in bracelets and necklaces, as examples.
For individuals wanting to acquire more than a one-, two- or three-coin collection, Lecce suggests obtaining the tenth-ounce gold bullions that were issued with Roman numerals. Another popular collecting option is to locate dates when children or grandchildren are born.
Gerald Fishman of G&F Coin Galleries in Philadelphia said he traditionally focuses on older rare coins with moderns on a selected basis. Among those moderns to catch his eye were the Uncirculated 2006-W American Eagle coins with a burnished finish.
The Uncirculated 2006-W American Eagle tenth-ounce gold coin also caught Lecce's attention. The most important thing is to "buy something you love," suggests Lecce, adding that the American Eagle gold bullion "is a great series with a huge potential to expand."
