We Are Always Buying American Gold Eagles

American Gold Eagles, or as they are sometimes called, AGEs, are the Cadillac of modern gold bullion coins.  These are the most in demand bullion coin that we buy and sell here in Greenville. 

We almost always have American Gold Eagles in stock at our coin shop in Greenville.  We are most likely to have the one ounce coins, but we do occasionally have the smaller denominations like half, quarter, and tenth ounce eagles.  We refer to them by their weight, but some collectors reference the face value of $50, $25, $10, and $5.  These were never intended to circulate, so the stated face value is really meaningless.  You certainly don’t want to sell for the face value!

Purity:  This surprises some buyers, but an American Gold Eagle is not pure gold.  It does have an ounce of gold in it, but it is actually 22 karat.  Each coin also has about 3% silver and 5.33% copper.  When buying or selling an American Gold Eagle you can get expect to get a price around the market price of gold, but there are a few exceptions to know about.

Type of Minting, What’s More Valuable?  There are essentially two types of American Gold Eagles for every year and weight.  You can have an uncirculated coin or a proof coin.  Proof coins have a mirror like finish and are usually complete with box, papers, felt case, and the coin is inside a hard plastic capsule.  There are no proof strikes that are in demand for their year and denomination alone.  However, you can expect a premium over the gold value for any proof AGE if you have all of the original government packaging (OGP).  Uncirculated coins are still very bright and shiny, but they don’t have the mirrorlike finish.  Uncirculated gold eagles can often be found in original white tubes with red lids or loose in coin sleeves.

Does The Year Style Matter?  All American Gold Eagles minted between 1986 and 1991 have the date written as a roman numeral.  1992 and later coins have standard Arabic numbers.  While the old style does make the coin seem a little more unique, the older years are not necessarily rarer or in more demand.  In fact, we probably see 1986 more often than any other year.

Denominations:

One Ounce / $50 Face Value – 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024…

99% of one ounce American Gold Eagles will trade for close to their gold value.  However, the mint has done some special issues like the 2020-W 1 oz Proof American Gold Eagle (End of WW2, V75 Privy), 2006-W Reverse Proof, and a couple other oddities that command a premium.

Half Ounce / $25 Face Value – all years since 1986, no special varieties

Quarter Ounce / $10 Face Value – all years since 1986, but no proof issues were struck for 1986

Tenth Ounce / $5 Face Value – no proofs in 1986 or 1987, all uncirculated years minted since 1986

Text on the Coins:  United States of America, E Pluribus Unum, In God We Trust, Fine Gold, Dollars

Design:  The front (obverse) of the coin shows lady liberty.  This is a similar design to the early 20^th century Saint Gaudens $20 gold pieces.  These are occasionally wrongly called walking liberty coins because of the design.

Please come to our showroom at 2038A Laurens Rd Greenville (on the Motor Mile) to see our selection or get an offer on the American Gold Eagle coins that you have for sale.  We promise you that we will have your best price whether you are buying or selling.