Owner Comments:
POPULATION: 73
The new Key Date 1oz Buffalo Proof.
Fifteenth year of issue.
James Earle Fraser was an American sculptor during the first half of the 20th century. He was an important member of the Commission of Fine Arts; the organization that selects the winning design from all submissions for all new coins to be minted. The American Buffalo is a 24-karat gold coin featuring James Fraser's designs based on the original 1913 Type I Buffalo nickel.
The US Mint released the 2020 Gold Buffalo Proof on April 9, 2020. The release day price was an historic $2,315.00 as the price of gold at $1,683.80 was the highest of any release day in the history of the Buffalo Proof up to and including this mintage. If that wasn't enough of a price shock to Buffalo lovers from what I have seen in the chat boards, when gold spiked 5 days later at $1,726.40, Buffalo lovers must have been stunned when the price jumped to $2,415.00. On August 5th, 2020 the US Mint raised the price to $2,665.00. A $350.00 increase in less than four months.
Now something didn't seem right about the release price and I'm sure that I'm not the only one who felt this way. In 2012 on release day the price of gold was $1,658.02 and the 2012 Buffalo Proof was priced just 18.2% over the price of gold at $1,960.00. Fast forward to April 9, 2020 and the price of gold is just $25.78 higher than 2012, yet the 2020 Buffalo Proof at $2,315.00 is $355.00 higher than the 2012 Proof; 37.5% higher than the release day price of gold. One other item as food for thought. Since 2008 the 1 oz Gold Buffalo Proof has come in a costly custom elegant hardwood display box. The 2020 Presentation Case for those who haven't seen the " New compact-sized packaging", is a significant reduction in production cost.
First reported sales figures from the US Mint on April 12, 2020 show the price impact on coin purchases with only 5,104 coins sold. This is the first and only Buffalo that was available from the US Mint for only six months. The coin was listed as unavailable in October and changed to sold out in November.
This coin will remain the Key Date for another year as sales for the 2023 Buffalo Proof have reached 15,138 coins sold.
Below are the US Mint consolidated monthly and weekly sales updates that show the slow pace at which the 2020 Buffalo Proof sold during 2020.
April 26th update: 1,413 additional coins.
May 31st update: 1,044 additional coins.
June 28th update: 671 additional coins.
July 26th update: 787 additional coins.
August 30 update: 2,611 additional coins.
Sept 6th update: 133 additional coins.
Sept 13th update: 116 additional coins.
Sept 20th update: 10 additional coins.
Sept 27th update: 4 additional coins.
October 4 update: 0 additional coins.
November 22 update: -6 additional coins.
November 3rd the US Mint listed the 2020 Proof Buffalo as "Sold Out".
Total sales for this Key Date coin reached 11,887 coins sold.
Sources: US Mint, USA Gold, Guide to American Gold Buffalo Coins