American Eagle Ten Dollar Platinum 1997 to Date

At one tenth of an ounce and a $10 face value, this was the smallest of the four American Platinum Eagles the Mint introduced in 1997 under Public Law 104-208. That 1996 law let the Treasury choose the platinum coins' designs and sizes, and every size shared the same pictures, with the weight and denomination spelled out on the reverse: .9995 PLATINUM 1/10 OZ. and $10.

The Mint's authorized purchasers bought the bullion tenth-ounce coins in quantity and resold them; proofs, and from 2006 to 2008 burnished coins, went straight from the Mint to collectors. The size ended with the 2008 coins, when the Mint cut its fractional platinum coins; the one-ounce guide follows the program after that.

• Bullion coins carry no mint mark; NGC attributes them to Philadelphia. Their designs stayed the same throughout: Mercanti's Statue of Liberty and Rogers's eagle with the rising sun.
• Proofs came from West Point, each marked W. After the first year their reverses changed with the one-ounce proof: five Vistas of Liberty landscapes (1998-2002), three single designs (2003-2005) and three Foundations of Democracy designs (2006-2008).
• Burnished coins, with a W, came from West Point in 2006, 2007 and 2008 and repeat that year's proof reverse.

The table gives the Mint's sales as Wikipedia lists them: bullion to authorized purchasers, proofs and burnished coins to collectors.

NGC's coin pages print 19,133 for the 1998 proof and 9,534 for the 2002 proof, which are Wikipedia's 1999 and 2003 figures, so they are not used here.

• First-year proof. The 1997 proof is the only tenth-ounce proof with the bullion reverse.
• Burnished coins. See the 2006, 2007 and 2008 pages; each shows the Foundations of Democracy reverse of its year.
• No Frosted FREEDOM. The 2007 pre-production proofs with a frosted FREEDOM were made in the three larger sizes only, the Mint said. A tenth-ounce 2007 proof always has the polished word.

Turn the coin over first. The eagle in flight with the sun behind it means a bullion coin or the 1997 proof, and only the proof has a W. Any other reverse means a collector coin of 1998-2008: a proof if the fields are mirrored, a burnished coin of 2006-2008 if the surface is satin. The 1/10 OZ. and $10 on the reverse separate it from the larger platinum eagles of the same year.

• Composition: platinum, .9995 fine
• Weight: 0.1001 troy ounce gross, about 3.11 grams; a tenth of an ounce of platinum
• Diameter: 16.5 mm
• Thickness: 0.95 mm
• Edge: reeded
• Face value: $10
• Designers: John Mercanti for the obverse; Thomas D. Rogers for the reverse of the bullion coin; other artists for each year's proof and burnished reverse