Owner Comments:
The $50 gold eagle is the workhorse of the U.S. gold bullion program. This one-ounce coin is the largest gold coin in the series and accounts for the vast majority of gold units sold. Its obverse design is based on Augustus Saint-Gaudens’s original design for the $20 gold coin that circulated from 1907 to 1933. The reverse is a more-contemporary arrangement by sculptor Miley Busiek and shows a male eagle returning to a nest containing a female eagle and hatchlings. Since it was first issued in 1986, this sequence has perennially been among the most popular bullion-coinage issues in the world. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the American Eagle Bullion program, the Mint offered three different 20th-Anniversary Sets. The most expensive option was the three-coin gold set, which featured a 2006-W Proof American eagle, a 2006-W Uncirculated eagle, and, for the first time ever, a 2006-W Reverse Proof American eagle; the set sold for $2,610. The offering was limited to 10,000 sets. Normal Proof eagles have frosted designs surrounded by mirrored fields. When this arrangement is inverted, and the fields of the coins are frosted while the design portion, including the lettering, is mirror-like and reflective, the coin is said to be a Reverse Proof. It’s an unusual surface finish that can be both striking and exotic, especially when employed on a familiar coin-type for the first time, as it was with the 20th-anniversary eagles. The announcement of the Reverse Proof gold eagle was made nine days before the coin went on sale, and it was immediately clear that it would be something special. It was the only coin of its kind in the American gold eagle series, the most popular gold bullion-coinage sequence in history. Further, its mintage was limited to just 10,000 coins—far below what was then the lowest Proof one-ounce gold eagle mintage, the 24,555 pieces of the 2001 issue. As expected, the coin was a quick and complete sellout (accounting for returns, the net mintage is now reported as 9,996). Prices doubled in the secondary market, and the coins have retained their post-release premium while the value of gold has doubled. The obvious question is why did the Mint produce only 10,000 coins? If the coin was so successful, why not make more? First, the Mint wanted to be sure that it would sell out. They produce collector versions of bullion coins only when production will not interfere with demand for bullion issues and when they can do so without creating expenses for taxpayers. A small program is more likely to sell out and easier to manage. Reverse Proof coins require special handling and die production; a much larger mintage would have made it difficult for the Mint to produce the coins. Also, with gold valued at $617 per ounce on the initial sale date, the set of three gold eagles had an intrinsic metal value of $1,851. Thus, its issue-price of $2,610 represented a large premium to gold weight and placed it among the most expensive sets ever sold by the U.S. Mint. With such a high original issue price, perhaps the Mint felt that if they produced more coins they would not sell or that the price premium to gold would be unsustainable. The net effect of what appears to be an example of extreme caution is a modern rarity that will seldom be available on the market in large supply. Its unique appearance makes it always desirable and a standout precious-metal coin among modern U.S. issues.
Garrett, Jeff; Schechter, Scott; Bressett, Kenneth; Bowers, Q. David (2011-03-04). 100 Greatest US Modern Coins (Kindle Locations 830-862). Whitman Publishing. Kindle Edition.