Owner Comments:
First year of issue.
On January 22nd, 2006 pressing two big buttons at the West Point Mint, United States Mint officials struck some of the first American Buffalo Gold Coins, marking the first time ever the United States Government minted pure (.9999) 24 karat gold coins for investors and collectors.
The US Mint in West Point exclusively will produce the one ounce $50.00 face value legal tender coin containing .9999 gold in a bullion version for investors and a proof version for collectors. The Proof version will have the W mint mark and the bullion coin will have no mint mark.
The United States Mint transferred two of the historic American Buffalo Gold Coins to the Smithsonian Institution’s coin collection on Thursday, June 22.
The Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005 mandated the production of the American Buffalo Gold Coin. Both the American Buffalo Gold Bullion and Proof Coins portray the images of the revered Type 1 Buffalo Nickel of 1913. The iconic James Earle Fraser image of an American bison graces the reverse (tails side), and Fraser’s classic design of an American Indian is featured on the obverse (heads side). The American Buffalo Gold Coin has inscriptions of the coin’s weight, denomination and gold content incused on the reverse (Buffalo side) in the design area commonly known as the “grassy mound.” The inscriptions read “$50,” “1 OZ” and “.9999 FINE GOLD.”
US Coin Designer and Engraver James Earle Fraser was born on November 4, 1876 in the city of Winona, Minnesota. He was raised in the frontier and among the Sioux Indians and other Native Americans. Minnesota at that time was part of the Western Frontier of America where James witnessed the displacement of the American Indian and the life and fall of the American Bison of the prairies which gives us insight into his inspiration for the coins design.
The US Mint released the 2006 Gold Proof Buffalo on June 22, 2006. The release day price was $800.00; the price of gold was $581.60. Mintage was set to a maximum of 300,000. The release was met with overwhelming enthusiasm as total sales for the 2006 Proof Buffalo reached 246,267 coins sold.
Sources: US Mint, USA Gold, Guide to American Gold Buffalo Coins