American Buffalo 2026 Anniversary 1/10 Oz Gold Coin

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One must also consider that the gold buffalo is 24 karat versus the 22 karat of the gold eagle.

 

That I did not know.

I wonder why the Buffalo does carry a premium over the AGE then? I certainly prefer the design of the Buffalo (glances over at his username and avatar), but don’t think that’s the only reason that it would.

 

LOL. And I thought you were into Moose.

 

No, a 1/10th 24k gold coin has more gold alloy than a 1/10th 22k gold American Eagle Coin, they are the same size diameter and thickness. Not a lot more gold alloy but it's not the same. Check it out boss!

The diameter of the 2008 1/10-ounce American Gold Buffalo coin is 16.5 millimeters.

Coin Specifications

• Diameter: 16.5 mm
• Weight: 3.11 grams (0.1 troy oz)
• Thickness: 1.19 mm
• Composition: 99.99% pure gold (.9999 fine)

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The diameter of a 2008 1/10th oz American Gold Eagle coin is 16.5 mm (0.65 inches) [0.66, 0.68].

Coin Specifications

• Actual Gold Content: 0.1 troy oz [0.68]
• Diameter: 16.5 mm [0.68]
• Composition: 91.67% gold (22-karat), 3% silver, remainder copper [0.62, 0.68]

The thickness of a 2008 1/10 oz American Gold Eagle coin is 1.19 mm

 

Pricing from the Mint appears to be much lower than what is seen in the secondary market for the 2008 coin, the only competitor.

I think the Mint probably has to use official gold pricing in coming up with a price for a new gold coin. Still, you wonder if they are aware of the premium for the 2008 and taking that into account (or NOT taking it into account, despite wanting to) ?

 

Wait, I thought all coins had the same amount of gold if they are the same "size" like 1 troy ounce or 1/10th troy ounce ?

Size would be smaller for a higher content gold alloy, of course. 0.999 or 0.9999 coins are smaller than 0.9167 purity, right ?

 

After 2008 the Mint adjusted its catalog because of low sales: part of this could have been for economic reasons at the time, part of this could have been due to the perception that they had too many different items for sale. This would be the last (and before now, only) year for fractional buffaloes; it was also the last year for fractional platinum eagles, and in 2009 they would make no proof or uncirculated silver eagles. (2009 they would only mint the bullion version of the silver eagles). They almost considered discontinuing fractional gold eagles, but thought better of it as they were still popular among collectors, not just bullion investors.

The fractional buffaloes have been in demand since, often still selling at around double their gold value. The 1/4 oz is especially in high demand, as it's close to the diameter of the original buffalo nickel. A lot of people have been hoping that fractional buffaloes would come back (I'm one of them!) and the fact that the only ones that exist as of now still sell for significantly above their gold value proves the demand is definitely there.

 

The design might be part of it as far as collector demand goes, but some people just prefer the nearly pure gold coins. Yes you're getting the same amount of gold either way but there is a bit of the preference factor involved.

 

The weird thing, as many of us were taught in Economics 101 class, is that as the price of gold and these coins has RISEN....the DEMAND has also gone up !!!

More people want gold when it is rising and more expensive. Ditto silver !!

I saw this at FUN 2026 with lines out the door to get in, mostly from the public looking to buy gold.

 

The AGE has 1/10th of mixed metals, it even says and the Gold Buffalo has 1/10th of .999, no mixed metals. That said, I agree to disagree with you but that's why the 24k always sell for a tad more. Oh, and the sizes are the same, same thickness and same diameter.

 

Same thickness and diameter, yes. But not the same weight and composition.
Dimensions of a 1/10 oz. gold eagle:

• Diameter: 16.50 mm (0.650 in)

• Thickness: 1.19 mm (0.047 in)

• Total Gross Weight: 3.393 grams (0.1091 troy oz)

• Pure Gold Content: 3.110 grams (0.100 troy oz)

• Composition: 91.67% gold (22-karat), 3% silver, and the rest copper

Dimensions of a 1/10 oz. gold buffalo:

• Diameter: 16.5 mm (0.650 inches)

• Thickness: 1.19 mm (0.047 inches)

• Total Gross Weight: 3.11 grams (0.10 troy ounces)

• Composition: .9999 fine gold (24-karat)

The gold eagle is a heavier coin and contains material other than gold. But either way you're getting 1/10 troy oz (or 3.11 grams) of gold.

OK to make the math easier, imagine two coins:
1 is a 1oz coin made of pure gold. It of course, has 1 oz of gold in it.
Another is a 2 oz coin that is 50% gold. It also has 1 oz. of gold in it.

The first coin is pure gold, the second isn't, but both contain the same amount of gold: 1 ounce.

This is the difference between gold eagles and gold buffaloes. Gold buffaloes are almost pure gold and contain basically nothing else. Gold eagles contain some silver and copper in addition to the gold, but they still have the same amount, coin by coin, as the gold buffaloes.

Some people just prefer the pure gold coins, maybe for appearance, maybe for design, maybe because if you have a lot of them they just weigh less so it's an easier way to store a lot of gold.

But they DON'T have MORE gold, and they are not worth more or sell for more because of having more gold in them. They're in higher demand for completely different reasons than that. That is not an opinion; that is a fact.

 

Yes the elimination of a large number of products after 2008 is another reason the Buffalo fractionals disappeared. However, unlike some of the items that went away, the Buffalos seemed to have demand and one would have figured the mint would have brought them back at some point. Now making them every year might not have made sense, but a year like 2016, which saw 3 special gold coins (Mercury, SLQ, and Walker), would have made sense to also bring back the Buffalo. Or they could have issued fractional sizes in 2013 as an anniversary piece along with the Reverse Proof 1 oz.

 

I don't think they look at the secondary market and most times there is a pricing grid that dictates the amount to charge based on gold price (that grid changes from year to year to increase the premiums). The first exception to this I have seen was the recent Liberty Bell gold coins that were priced around 10k for the 1/2 oz gold and 20k for the 1 oz gold. That was new and appears to have not worked out too well so the mint might not go back to being that aggressive with premiums.