Modern Gold Coinage (1986-Current)
American Gold Buffalo
Introduced in 2006, the American Gold Buffalo became the nation’s first 24-karat gold bullion coin. Featuring James Earle Fraser’s iconic Buffalo nickel designs, the series combines .9999 fine gold with one of the most recognizable images in American numismatic history.
About The Collection
The American Gold Buffalo was introduced by the United States Mint in 2006, becoming the nation’s first 24-karat (.9999 fine) gold bullion coin. Authorized by the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005, the program expanded America’s modern gold coin offerings beyond the 22-karat American Gold Eagle, which had been introduced two decades earlier. The Buffalo was created in part to meet growing worldwide demand for exceptionally pure gold bullion coins and to compete with established 24-karat issues such as the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf. Each one-ounce Gold Buffalo carries a legal-tender face value of $50 and contains a full troy ounce of pure gold, with its weight, content and purity guaranteed by the United States government.
For its design, the Mint revived one of the most celebrated images in American coinage—the Buffalo nickel, originally created by sculptor James Earle Fraser and issued from 1913 through 1938. The obverse features Fraser’s iconic Native American portrait, while the reverse depicts the powerful American bison that gave the original nickel its familiar nickname. The combination of .9999 fine gold and a classic early-20th-century American design quickly established the Gold Buffalo as an important part of the modern U.S. Mint program. Today, Gold Buffalos are produced in both bullion and Proof formats, appealing to precious-metal buyers and collectors alike while connecting modern American gold coinage with one of the most recognizable designs in U.S. numismatic history.
