On August 14, 1974, President Gerald Ford signed a bill lifting the restrictions on gold ownership by Americans, effective with the start of the New Year in 1975. Prior to that time, bullion issues such as the South African Krugerrand were off limits, although many citizens wishing to own gold were able to circumvent the restrictions by “collecting” U.S. Eagles and Double Eagles, or back-dated world gold issues such as the Mexican 50 Peso, the Austrian 100 Corona or some of the smaller European gold coins such as British Sovereign, the 20 Franc or 20 Mark pieces. Nevertheless, this legislation opened the door for a widely expanded market, and the Krugerrand was soon joined by other bullion issues such as the Canadian Maple Leaf and the Mexican Libertad.
In 1986, the U.S. Mint decided to enter the field, and in that year announced the American Gold Eagle in four sizes (1/10, ¼, ½ and 1 ounce, bearing denominations of $5, $10, $25 and $50 respectively) and the one-ounce ($1.00) American Silver Eagle. For their obverses, the Mint used two popular designs from the early 20th century – Augustus Saint Gaudens’ Double Eagle obverse for the gold coins, and Adolph Weinman’s Walking Liberty half dollar for the silver coin. These coins were instantly popular and joined the rapidly growing field of world bullion issues which by the end of the decade would include the British Britannia, Chinese Panda, Australian Nugget (later Kangaroo), and Austrian Philharmonic among others.
The American gold eagles were joined by the American Buffalo series in 2006, struck in .9999 fine gold, the First Spouse ½ ounce gold series in 2007, the Ultra High Relief coin in 2009, and the American Liberty coins in 2015.
Gold and silver have not been the only precious metals to be offered – the American Eagle Platinum coins made their debut in 1997 and were struck in four sizes through 2008 and in only the full one-ounce size since then, and the American Eagle Palladium coins introduced in 2017 employing the obverse of the Mercury dime.
The Mint has issued nearly all of these coins in various finishes, including regular mint state, proof, burnished and reverse proofs. The coins are sold both directly to the public by the mint as well as through their authorized resellers.
