I was wondering, is the American gold eagle going to grain any numismatic value in say 100 or so years, like the st. gaudens 20 dollar gold coin, or is the american gold eagle just for bullion purposes?
I think that for right now that gold American Eagle is just a bullion coin, however, there might be some numismatic value for a 1/10 th oz 1988 Gold American Eagle since I believe that it is a key date for that 1/10 th oz size. I think that the 1/10th oz 1988 gold Eagle has the lowest mintage numbers among all 1/10th oz gold Eagles. If the gold American Eagle series is cancelled, then there is a possibility that the gold Eagle could have some numismatic value to it but that is hard to predict. We will have to see what happens in the future.
seems to be little value above bullion content in US Uncirculated issues. It seems that bullion value is about all you can wring out of most US issues. There was that 2008 thing, with a limited mintage, that drives secondary market values, but I see lots of early 1900's gold for little above spot. Now, once gold gets to $2000 and really massive melting to make Chinese jewelry begins, and some issues vanish altogether, then it may pay. But by that time, who will spend a thousand on a half ounce uncirculated when most of us cannot afford a collection anymore. Kinda crazy to collect issues that are pretty much all the same as one another; Panda, Krugerrand, Maple Leaf, or whatever mint makes them, All just an ounce of gold, ready to melt for recreational use.
I would say that AGEs will be viewed as bullion for a very long time. There aren't a lot of folks who collect gold to begin with. How many people try to put together a complete set of Saints or $10 liberties?
IMO, the ones that will have the most numismatic value will be the W mint-marked, burnished 2006, 2007, and especially 2008 AGEs. TC
Yes, AGE coins are minted first and foremost for bullion purposes. And, Yes, they can gain numismatic value, for several reasons: without Proof or burnished "W" mintmark examples currently being issued, collectors may have begun buying current issues to fill holes, if any collector chooses to collect bullion examples of AGEs, they may be willing to pay more than spot plus the nominal premium bullion eagles command to acquire them, the Eagle coin program may one day end and collecting these coins may take off intensifying numismatic premiums on these coins, some years and some denominations of Eagle coins have much lower mintage figures, implying that there is some rarity to that issue and some collectors follow the numbers for rarity valuation as key coins in a collection, thus they may be collected and trade for greater than their intrinsic commodities market defined bullion price. Any of this can be said to be currently true, happen today, tomorrow, this year or one hundred or more years from now.
Are proof coins more likely to gain numismatic value over the normal ones, i know it may sound dumb but just curious. Also krispy you have any pics of a 1/4 oz size comparison? Thanks
Ok, over the last year or so, I have noticed that "Proof" AGEs consistently sell for nearly DOUBLE melt value? Why is this? To me, an 80% premium over melt takes it out of "bullion" category. Why are folks paying so much for proof AGEs? Are they that rare? I remember purchasing a proof 1/10 ounce AGE for melt, and now regret having resold it since I now could get double what I paid.
For the same reason there were no Proof ASE's last year. By definition Proof are numismatic products and Uncirculated is a bullion product. Mint regulations (dictated to them by Congress) states that the Mint each year must satisfy bullion demand for their products before they begin producing items for the collector market. Since bullion demand has been through the roof recently, then the Proof issues have become more important because there are fewer, if any, of them being produced in relation to their UNC counterparts.
It's not dumb, however you are diverting from the OP and this is the 'bullion investing' forum. I say this because you are beginning to mix questions regarding numismatic values, numismatic versions of these coins and applying numismatic principals to bullion coins. When you draw coin collectors into bullion investing discussions you open a can of worms as there are often divergent perspectives and differing goals they have in mind. I don't think this is the forum for this discussion and I encourage you to do a lot more reading about bullion in general, about AGE Proofs, collector version unc. "W" mintmark coins and the plain AGE bullion versions. Take a moment to consider that your question should use the same general principles of collecting and approach to understanding values that you'd apply to any collectible coins. Plus apply some of those aspects of mine and other previous posts to this thread to answer your inquiry. Proof coins are generally sold at a significant mark up and at that are sold as collectibles, not 'investments' in which you seek 'gains' whereas people may buy bullion coins to store wealth and hedge against the loss of value of their cash if held in that form. There are literally scores of threads and multiple scores of opinions and ideas on what you are asking for me alone to give you an overview statement. You can search the coin specs for sizes online. Also take a look at a 4-coin set of AGEs and you can see the size differences between the four. Also, go visit a coin shop or show to see them in hand. Images online are only referential and there are plenty of eagles you can see online for that already.
Proof AGE's sell for double bullion for one reason: They are allowed, exclusively, as part of IRA holdings. The demand for gold holdings in IRA's is sky high, because the dollar is tanking worldwide. Australian Dollars are now financial destinations of choice, as their currency is not leveraged like ours and Greece's are. Especially, proof AGE one ounce coins are, well, gold lately. Double entendre.
