The first American Eagle palladium bullion coins will be offered for sale Sept. 25 by the U.S. Mint to its authorized purchasers.

The number of 1-ounce .9995 palladium $25 face value coins offered will be limited, but that limit is not yet disclosed. No additional coins will be struck once the inaugural mintage of the 2017 coins is sold. The U.S. Mint will sell the American Eagle palladium bullion coins to the authorized purchasers on an allocation basis. The coins will be sold to the authorized purchasers at a 6.25 percent premium over the prevailing price of palladium.

Did you buy a winner or a loser from the U.S. Mint? Also in this week’s print issue of Coin World, we not only learn more about rare coins, but collectible rare cars as well.

The Mint does not sell its bullion coins directly to the public, but instead sells the coins to its network of authorized purchasers, or approved buyers, for the closing London PM spot price of the metal per troy ounce plus a small premium. The coins are then made available to other customers — such as collectors, dealers and investors — for a small markup.

According to Acting Principal Deputy Mint Director David Motl, the palladium bullion coins will be struck at the Philadelphia Mint and, like all American Eagle bullion coins, will not exhibit the Mint mark of the production facility where the coins are struck.

A Proof version of the coin will be offered in 2018. It will be struck at the West Point Mint and bear the W Mint mark. It will have same designs as the 2017 bullion version.

The palladium coins were authorized under provisions of Public Law 111-303, the American Eagle Palladium Bullion Coin Act of 2010, which calls for production of a 1-ounce .9995 fine palladium coin with a $25 face value. The coin is an extension of the American Eagle bullion coin program.

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The legislation mandates the obverse design be a high-relief version of sculptor Adolph A. Weinman’s Winged Liberty Head design for the dime struck in 1916. The reverse is mandated to be a high-relief version of the Eagle design Weinman rendered in 1906 for the reverse of the American Institute of Architects’ gold medal first presented in 1907.

At first glance, collectors examining the coin's obverse may be confused believing they are seeing the W Mint mark of the West Point Mint even though the coins are being struck at the Philadelphia Mint and without Mint mark. What appears in the field up and right of the date is the monogram featuring the designer's AW initials of Weinman.

The planchets for the palladium bullion coins are being provided by PAMP. The enabling act requires the “purchase of palladium mined from natural deposits in the United States, or in a territory or possession of the United States ... ”

If such domestically mined palladium is not available or it is economically unfeasible to obtain such metal, the Treasury secretary has the authority to seek palladium elsewhere.

The only domestic mining concern within the confines of the United States, its territories or possessions yielding palladium is the Stillwater Mining Company.

The company conducts mining operations at the Stillwater Mine near Nye, Montana, and at the East Boulder Mine near Big Timber, Montana.

On May 4, 2017, South Africa-based Sibanye Gold Limited completed the 100 percent acquisition of Stillwater Mining Company for $2.2 billion. On Aug. 30, Sibanye Gold Limited was renamed and registered as Sibanye-Stillwater Limited (Sibanye-Stillwater).

For additional information on Sibanye-Stillwater, visit www.sibanyegold.co.za.