Authorized in 1985 and first struck in 1986, the American Gold Eagle is the United States’ flagship gold bullion coin — 22-karat, four sizes, and the standard American gold position.
History
- Authorized by the Gold Bullion Coin Act of 1985; first released in 1986 as the U.S. Mint’s flagship bullion program.
- Obverse: Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ full-length Liberty with torch and olive branch, adapted from the 1907 double eagle.
- Original reverse (1986–mid-2021): Miley Busiek’s nesting bald-eagle family.
- New reverse introduced mid-2021 for the 35th anniversary: a close-up eagle portrait designed by Jennie Norris and sculpted by Renata Gordon, with a refreshed obverse closer to Saint-Gaudens’ original and a reeded-edge-variation anti-counterfeiting feature.
Key dates & varieties
- Four sizes with legal-tender face values: 1 oz ($50), 1/2 oz ($25), 1/4 oz ($10), 1/10 oz ($5).
- 2021 is a transition year — both the Busiek and the new eagle-portrait reverses were struck.
Specifications
- 22-karat gold: 91.67% gold, 3% silver, 5.33% copper.
- The 1 oz coin weighs 33.93 g gross so that it holds exactly 1 troy oz of pure gold.
Collector notes
- A bullion coin first and a collectible second: the number that matters is the premium over melt — compare live listings before buying.
Market check
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