Gold Eagles

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American Gold Eagles

Popular Gold Bullion Coins

Since their introduction in 1986, more than thirteen million Gold Eagles have been sold. Because American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins (their official name) are the world's best-selling gold bullion coins, they provide instant liquidity. Still, the Krugerrand is probably the world's best known gold bullion coin.

Minted at West Point, New York, American Gold Eagles come in four sizes: 1-ounce, 1/2-ounce, 1/4-ounce, and 1/10-ounce. The 1-oz Gold Eagles are by far the most popular and sell at small premiums over the value of their gold content. The smaller coins sell at higher premiums.

The smaller (fractional-ounce) coins are not always available as the Mint is dedicating its production capacity to turning out 1-oz Gold Eagles and the immensely popular 1-oz Silver Eagles, which have sold at record paces in recent years.

American Gold Eagles are 22-karat gold, which means they contain 91.6% gold and 8.4% of a copper-silver alloy. Because Gold Eagles are 22-karat, many investors incorrectly believe that Gold Eagles have less than an ounce of gold. This is not so.

Gold Eagles: exactly 1-oz ounce of gold

The 1-oz American Gold Eagles contain exactly one ounce of gold, and the smaller fractional-ounce Gold Eagles contain the gold content stamped on them. The copper-silver alloy causes the coins to weigh slightly more than their stated gold contents.

American Gold Eagles

Legal Tender Gold Coins

American Eagles are legal tender coins, but their face values are symbolic, as Gold Eagles do not sell at their legal tender values; Gold Eagles sell at prices that reflect the value of their gold content plus small premiums for being coins.

American Gold Eagles: four sizes

The 1-oz Gold Eagle coins are $50 face value, the 1/2-oz coins $25, the 1/4-oz coins $15, and the 1/10-oz coins $5. One-ounce Gold Eagles come in tubes of twenty but can be bought in smaller quantities.

All four American Gold Eagle sizes carry the same design. Gold Eagles minted 1986-1991 are dated with Roman numerals. In 1992, the U.S. Mint switched to Arabic numbers for dating Gold Eagles.

If you would like to discuss buying American Gold Eagles, or would like to discuss any aspect of investing in gold, call us at 800-528-1380. CMIGS takes calls 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. MST, Mondays through Fridays.

Notes:
The troy ounce is the unit of weight for precious metals. One troy ounce equals 1.09711 regular (avoirdupois) ounces. Where ounce and ounces are used in this Web site, they mean troy ounce or ounces.

The minimum orders for bullion purchases at CMIGS are five ounces of gold or platinum; ten ounces of palladium; 200 ounces of silver. Orders up to $20,000 may be accepted without a deposit. Usually, payment by bank wire transfer is required for larger orders. Sometimes, a deposit may be required before prices are locked in for large orders. See Doing Business With CMIGS.

If you are interested buying quantites less than ten ounces of gold bullion, visit our Gold Specials Page, which often offers gold bullion in quantities less the ten ounces.