The History Of Us Gold Eagle Coins
Posted By Collectorcity on December 08, 2011 | 0 comments
Contemporary US gold coins that are issued exclusively for the coin collector and the investor market have a high profile in today’s coin news. Although today’s American gold and silver coins carry the same designs as their historic counterparts, and even use the same denomination names, in essence they are produced for totally different purposes. Before America left the Gold Standard in 1933 (the link between the price of gold and the value of the US dollar), US gold coins were minted for use as regular currency in general circulation. Although today’s US gold coins carry the same nominal values as their counterparts and are actually legal tender, nobody would be foolish enough to try and buy items with them for their nominal coin value because they are worth so much more as gold bullion coins.
The forerunner of all US gold coinsThe eagles, valued at ten dollars, and the half eagles, valued at five dollars, were first minted back in 1795 and they have the distinction of being the first ever US gold coins. Actually minting of US gold coins had been authorized from the very first days of United States coinage in 1792. The delay in minting these US gold coins resulted from a shortage of gold bullion combined with the government demanding that the mint officials deposit a $10,000 bond against misuse of gold stocks. When the value of the bond was reduced and the bullion situation improved, the minting of gold coins commenced.It is estimated that the first US gold half eagles issue amounted to 8,707 coins. The half eagle was a popular denomination with wide commercial usage. By 1807 mintage had increased to 50,000, and so although today this coin has a rare currency status at the time of issue it would certainly not have been considered rare currency.Nineteenth century bullion dealers buy up US gold coins The full gold eagle coin was nowhere near as popular as the half eagle coin value since it was too high a denomination to be useful for average transactions at this period. Another reason that the full gold eagle issue was not a success was the fact that bullion dealers soon found that the gold bullion value of the eagles exceeded their nominal value—people began exporting them overseas for melting down.By the mid-1830s an increase in gold coin prices led to a situation where the value of the half eagles to bullion dealers exceeded their nominal value. Clearly the US Mint had to act or more people would be tempted to sell these gold bullion coins to bullion dealers for melting down rather than using them as currency. A decision was therefore taken to reduce the gold content of the half eagles.Mintage of the half eagle coins still continued at high levels with 657,460 minted in 1834. By 1880 half eagle minting had reached a huge 4,500,000 coins. This is good coin news for the coin collector looking to buy nineteenth century American gold coins since it keeps these gold coin prices from getting beyond the range of the average coin collector.US eagles as rare collector coinsAlthough as far as gold coin prices are concerned half eagle coins are relatively inexpensive, but the coin collector looking for rare US coins can find plenty of interest. For example, although minting of half eagles began at the San Francisco mint in 1854, only 268 coins were minted with just three examples known today. While on the subject of rare US coins, the fifty half eagles minted in New Orleans in 1841 are going to be at the top of the list of rare US coins. There are no surviving examples of these particular US gold coins known today and it is assumed they were all melted soon after their minting.In the view of the average coin collector as projected on many coin news sites, the St. Gaudens double eagle (minted between 1907 and 1933) takes the prize for the most attractive US gold coins. The high quality classical design motif introduced by St. Gaudens has proved to be of enduring appeal. In addition to their artistic appeal these double eagle US gold coins have become famous for the 1933 coin issue. Although a decision was made in 1928 not to circulate these coins any more, it was not until 1933 that American left the Gold Standard and the double-eagles produced in this year were melted down. The exact circumstances are not known for sure, but some of these ultra rare US coins escaped the meltdown and ended up in private ownership. The American government claims that that it is illegal to hold this rare currency and the issue continues to be in dispute in the courts.US gold coins returnAfter a fifty year break, minting of gold eagle coins began again at the US Mint in 1986. This new generation of US gold coins is aimed exclusively at the investor and the coin collector, although there are some people who believe that a return to the use of circulation gold and silver coins could restore confidence in an economy damaged by the over-printing of paper money.The US Mint produces three different types of gold coins for sale. The American eagle bullion coins are aimed at investors. They offer a convenient way of acquiring gold for investment. The coin collector can thus buy US gold coins weighing as much as an ounce of pure gold and be confident they can easily sell them to bullion dealers when required. These bullion coins are also available in silver and platinum.For the coin collector who does not plan to buy gold coins and resell them to the bullion dealers, but rather retain them as collector coins, the US Mint produces proof and uncirculated versions of the eagle coins. While the bullion coins need to be purchased through designated bullion dealers, the proof and uncirculated coins can be bought directly from the US Mint. To make the connection with historical US gold coins, the modern eagle issues used the early twentieth century St. Gaudens design that has proved itself an all-time coin collector favorite.
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