If You’re Looking For Stunning American Eagle Gold Coins, Then Check Out This 2-Piece Set of 1908-1929 Indian Quarter Eagle/Half Eagle Coins With Bonus!
It is believed that the $20 Saint-Gaudens, or double eagle, gold coin is the most breathtakingly beautiful coin in U.S. history. However, there are two smaller American eagle gold coins from the same period in history that steal the limelight, due to their bold and cutting-edge design. That would be the $2.50 and $5 gold coins, also known as the Indian Head quarter eagle and half eagle. Nonetheless, these two particular gold coins were not exactly welcomed with open arms. First of all, these coins are quite unusual because their relief is incuse. For those of you not of the numismatic world, this means that the motifs and legends are sunken in a surface that is uniformly flat. Other traditional coins have the legends raised above the surface of the coin and rely on the rim for protection.
A close friend of President Roosevelt, William S. Bigelow, who was a physician and art collector from Boston, proposed the unique idea of the incused design, and the President proudly approved it. This design would be able to reduce wear and tear and avoid replacement costs on legal tender coinage. But people complained that the depressed design would be a dirt collector and thus, a germ breeder and in addition, would be easy to counterfeit. There was also griping that these coins wouldn’t stack properly, of all things!
The Legacy of the Gold Krugerrand – It Set the Style and Standard
It could easily be said that no gold coin collection would be complete without a South African Krugerrand. Introduced in 1967 by the South African Mint as a way to market and publicize South African gold, the Krugerrand was the coin that gave all countries the idea to produce their own collectable gold coins. Indeed, it was the success of the gold Krugerrand that made the Canadian, Australian, British, and American mints elect to create their own gold coins.
So what made this coin so special? The gold Krugerrand was a first in many respects. It was the first coin to use exactly one troy ounce of gold, although it’s quality was only 22 karats so the coin itself is comprised of 1.0909 troy ounces of metal - 1 oz. of gold and 0.0909 of copper. The coin was also very unique in its status as legal tender. The vast majority of minted coins today have a face value in addition to the coin’s intrinsic bullion value, however, the Krugerrand did not. It’s legal tender value was the value of the bullion itself. So if one troy ounce is $1000, the coin would have been legally worth $1000.
The scarcity of the Krugerrand also certainly had something to do with its initial popularity. Until 1994, sanctions against South Africa for its apartheid policies made the Krugerrand an illegal import into most Western nations. Hence, the coin had a sort of elusive appeal to it since getting one’s hands on a few of these coins meant instant profits when sold. Considering the gold Krugerrand was only sold by the Mint at at 5% premium, this meant that coins that did show up in the Western world could easily be sold at a handsome profit.
As one can see, the Krugerrand was in a class of its own. It was the catalyst that inspired many governments to launch their own collectable coin minting programs and it was also the first to include the standard one troy ounce of gold. Indeed, the Krugerrand has a tremendous amount of history that makes it a living legend in the gold coin market.
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Making Coin History – The 2002 Native American “The Prophet” $5 Gold Coin In Proof Condition!
After the success of the Tecumseh silver dollars, The Sovereign Nation of the Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma issued the first Indian gold coins in 2002. They were the first Native Americans to do so and these coins are legal tender within the Shawnee reservation. These dazzling five dollar gold coins were struck in .999 fine gold. Due to the lack of a clever advertising budget that is the norm for new releases from the U.S. Treasury, these gold coins were issued with little public showing and were barely even noticed by those in the coin world. Besides that, the mintage edition set for The Prophet was only five thousand.
This should have been a monumental event in the numismatist world, but went overlooked until recently. Why now? Five hundred and sixty-two Native American tribes are officially recognized by the U.S. government. More and more tribes are declaring their rights to act as sovereign nations. Our government does acknowledge the tribal nations’ Constitutional sovereignty to act as self-governing, separate, sovereign nations. Buy this rare gold coin at GovMint.com for Gold! Click here!
The Impressive Gold Vienna Philharmonic Coins Are Music To Your Collection!
The phenomenal gold Vienna Philharmonic coins were first minted in 1989 at the Austrian Mint in Vienna and are the only legal tender gold coins produced in a large scale in Europe. It is also the only gold bullion coin denominated in euros that is issued on a regular basis. The Austrian Mint is world renowned for the production of superior and avant-garde gold coins for more than eight hundred years, making it one of the oldest minting institutions in the world continuously in production. It is said that the Austrian Mint indirectly owes it’s beginnings to Richard I of England, also known as Richard the Lionheart.
The Vienna Philharmonic coin’s design, by Thomas Pesendorfer, is a tribute to the jewel of Austria’s culture, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, whose members are chosen from the Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera. To be able to play with the Philharmonic is not a simple process. The musician would have to devote a minimum of three years, playing for the Opera and Ballet to prove his/her skill. Only then can the musician ask the Board of the Wiener Philharmoniker to consider an application for a seat in the Vienna Philharmonic. On the obverse, or “heads” side of this striking coin, is pictured a collection of some of the instruments that produce the orchestra’s glorious music: a bassoon, a harp, a cello, a Viennese horn and four violins. On the arc of the coin, above the instruments, are the words, “Wiener Philharmoniker”, meaning Vienna Philharmonic.
Ever Changing – The Incredible Australian Gold Kangaroo Coin
The Australian Kangaroos or Gold Nuggets, as they were originally called, are gold bullion coins which are minted by the Perth Mint. The Gold Nugget series began production in 1986 and was introduced by the Gold Corporation, which is a company owned by the government of Western Australia. These coins are of 99.99% or 24-karat fine gold and come in five troy ounce sizes: 1/20 ounce, 1/10 ounce, ¼ ounce, ½ ounce and 1 ounce. These Gold Nuggets are legal tender in Australia and have the face values of $5, $15, $25, $50 and $100.
From 1986 the reverse side of the coins featured a variety of gold nuggets, which are found in Australia. However, to those not residing in Australia, the nuggets appeared to be lumps of soil or meteorites. In 1989 the design was changed to display the kangaroo, the National Animal of Australia, something the world distinguished as Australia’s symbol. This design is changed every year to show a different portrait of their beloved marsupial. The Chinese Gold Panda is another of the world’s gold bullion coins that changes their design yearly. On the arc of the Gold Kangaroo is “The Australian Nugget”, the ounces, the purity of the gold and the date.
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