2006 Gold Buffalo Coins - Pure American Gold
The United States has many competitors when it comes to producing gold bullion coins. The South African Krugerrand (1967 onward) and the Canadian Maple Leaf (1979 onward) to name but two. The United States entered the field in 1986 with the American Gold Eagle and produced it’s first 24 karat .999 fine coin with the issue of the 2006 Buffalo gold coins.
The Gold Eagle consists of .91670 fine gold (22 karat). Like most gold bullion coins around the world, an additional alloy of silver and copper is added to make the coin more wear-resistant. This put it at a disadvantage with the Canadian Maple Leaf, which is made of .999 fine gold (24 karat). Most collectors chose the Maple Leaf over the Gold Eagle, especially as the price of gold continues to rise each year.
Sixty percent of the world gold market consists of consumers purchasing 24-karat gold coins. With recent issues of Buffalo gold coins, the U.S. government hopes to make serious inroads into this market.
In 2005, therefore, when the Presidential $1 Coin Act was passed, which authorized the Presidential dollar coins series, it also included the First Spouse series of half ounce, 10 dollar gold coins, and the $50 Gold Buffalo. Both of these series feature 24 karat gold coins.
The Gold Buffalo was first available for pre-orders in June, and started shipping in July 2006. The U.S. Mint sells only the proof version of this coin, meant for the collector rather than the investor. The initial 2006 price of the proof was $800, of the 2007 proof coin, $899.95. The 2008 proof coin is for sale at $1,118.88. The proof coin has a "W" mint mark (for the West Point Mint) on the obverse – the regular bullion coins do not have that mark.
The Buffalo Gold Coin Design
One of the most popular early American coins is the Indian Head or Buffalo nickel, which was designed by James Earle Fraser in 1913. Fraser, a protégé of sculpture Augustus Saint-Gaudens (who had designed the Double Eagle coin of 1907) is perhaps most famous for his American Indian sculpture, The End of the Trail, showing an exhausted Native American slumped over the neck of his horse.
When it came to designing the Buffalo nickel of 1913, Fraser wanted a design that was uniquely American. Although coins had featured American Indian heads before this time - they were really only Europeans, with a headdress added. Fraser's models were full-blooded Indians. He chose the buffalo because "I found no other motif within the boundaries of the United States so distinctive as the American buffalo."
There were two types of these nickels. Type I had the buffalo standing on a mound, Type II dispensed with the mound.
The 2006 Gold Buffalo replicates the designs of the Type I Buffalo nickel. Of course where it once said "FIVE CENTS," it now reads "$50 1 OZ. .9999 FINE GOLD". The motto "IN GOD WE TRUST," which has been present on all U.S. gold coins since 1908, can be seen on the reverse – beneath the buffalo's head.