Your Guide to Buying U.S. Gold Coins.
The value of gold coins can arise from both the content of the gold and the collectability of the coins, which may or may not depend on the purity of the gold in it.
Not all gold coins are strictly made of bullion gold, a term often used only for the most fine gold. Many commemorative and numismatic gold coins are not anywhere near the pure, 24-karat gold and have instead a noticeable percentage of alloy.
In fact, even the historic American Double Eagle, a gold coin with a face value of $20 doubling that of the then $10 Eagle and whose first minting coincided with the California Gold Rush, consisted of gold of only 90 percent, equalling only 21.6 karat, and copper of 10%.
Therefore, owning gold coins for the purpose of gold investing can be achieved only through buying bullion gold coins of high purity levels.
Two U.S. gold coins are available for gold investors to own: the very popular American Eagle bullion gold coins and the American Buffalo 24-karat gold coins.
Unlike other collectible gold coins whose values are based on limited mintage, rarity, condition and age, bullion gold coins are valued by the weight of a coin's fine gold, often stated and imprinted on the coin.
American Eagle bullion gold coins have four different sizes in weight that measures the content of the fine gold: one ounce, one-half ounce, one-quarter ounce, and one-tenth ounce. The various weights make it flexible to fit into different investors' different budgets.
Although the value of the coins is determined by the market price of the gold content, the coins are also issued as legal tender with a corresponding, symbolic "face" value in four different denominations: $50, $25, $10, and $5, which apparently are far below the value of the coins as bullion. Despite the high probability that the price of the coins' gold content will never fall below their face value, a least value for the coins as if in circulation is nonetheless guaranteed by the U.S. government.
American Eagle bullion gold coins have a gold purity level of 91.67 percent, as they use the durable 22-karat, historical standard for gold circulating coinage established 350 years ago. Although 99.9% fine gold purity is available on many other bullion coins, the small amount of alloy used in American Eagles does harden the coins to make them resist scratching and marring, which can diminish resale value.
The 1-ounce, $50-dollar American Buffalo bullion gold coins are the first 24-karat fine gold coins ever struck by the United States Mint. With a purity level of .9999, the coins are among the world's purest gold coins in terms of the fineness of the gold they contain. The American Buffalo coins offers gold investors a new and rare opportunity to buy a 24-karat bullion gold coin.
American Eagles and American Buffalo gold coins are both distributed by the U.S. Mint to a network of wholesalers, brokerage companies, precious metal firms, coin dealers, and participating banks, known as Authorized Purchasers.
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