American Buffalo Gold 2006 to Date

About This Series

Achieving a milestone in American bullion coinage, the American Buffalo Gold coin became the first .9999 fine (24-karat) gold bullion coin produced by the United States Mint when it debuted in 2006. The design resurrects James Earle Fraser's iconic 1913 Buffalo Nickel imagery — Native American profile obverse and American bison reverse — elevating one of America's most beloved designs from base-metal nickel to pure gold one-ounce fifty-dollar coin. Authorized by the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005, the program responded to investor demand for a pure gold American coin competing with the Canadian Maple Leaf and other .9999 international products. Both proof and bullion versions are struck annually at West Point. A brief 2008 experiment with fractional denominations — half-ounce, quarter-ounce, and tenth-ounce — was discontinued after one year, making the 2008 fractionals sought-after one-year types. The pure gold composition gives each coin a distinctive rich yellow color differing from the slightly reddish 22-karat American Gold Eagles.