American Eagle Twenty Five Dollar Platinum 1997 to Date

The quarter-ounce American Platinum Eagle has a face value of $25 and was struck from 1997 through 2008. Public Law 104-208 (1996) authorized platinum bullion and proof coins without setting their sizes or designs, and the Mint issued four sizes from the start, each with the same artwork. The reverse of this one is marked 1/4 OZ. and $25.

The bullion coins went to the Mint's authorized purchasers, dealers who buy in bulk and resell, while proofs, and from 2006 burnished coins, were sold by the Mint to collectors. The Mint stopped the fractional sizes after 2008. The one-ounce guide covers the program's later years.

Bullion. The obverse shows Mercanti's Statue of Liberty and the reverse Rogers's eagle flying in front of a rising sun, every year, with no mint mark. NGC lists them as Philadelphia coins.

Proof. A West Point coin bearing a W. The 1997 proof used the bullion reverse; afterward the reverse followed the yearly proof design shared by all four sizes: eagles over regional landscapes in the Vistas of Liberty years (1998-2002), separate designs in 2003-2005, and the Foundations of Democracy reverses for Congress, the presidency and the courts in 2006-2008.

Burnished. A third finish for 2006-2008: West Point used specially burnished planchets, added a W and used the year's proof reverse.

As Wikipedia reprints the Mint's numbers, the bullion column counts coins sold to authorized purchasers and the other two count coins sold to collectors. NGC agrees where it lists a figure.

• 2007 Frosted FREEDOM. The 2007 proof reverse, for the executive branch, shows an eagle above a shield crossed by a banner reading FREEDOM. The Mint first made the word frosted, then changed the frosting mask so the word would be polished and easier to read. Twenty-one quarter-ounce coins from before the change were released, the Mint said, by mistake. A collector reported one in February 2011. See the Frosted FREEDOM coin beside the regular 2007 proof.
• Burnished years. The 2006, 2007 and 2008 burnished coins are the only quarter-ounce platinum eagles with a W that are not proofs.

• No mint mark: bullion, with the eagle and sun on the reverse.
• W, mirror fields: proof. From 1998 the reverse picture identifies the year's theme.
• W, satin surface: burnished, 2006-2008 only.
• 2007 proof, FREEDOM frosted: the pre-production variety. On the regular coin FREEDOM shines against the frosted banner.

• Composition: .9995 platinum
• Weight: 0.2501 troy ounce gross, about 7.78 grams (Wikipedia; NGC lists 7.786 g); a quarter ounce of platinum
• Diameter: 22.0 mm
• Thickness: 1.32 mm
• Edge: reeded
• Face value: $25
• Designers: John Mercanti (obverse) and Thomas D. Rogers (reverse of the bullion coin); each year's proof and burnished coins carry their own reverse