Set Description
THE AMERICAN GOLD EAGLE IS CURRENTLY AND MAY ALWAYS BE THE ONLY NATIONAL GOLD COIN WHERE IT IS EVEN POSSIBLE TO ASSEMBLE A COMPLETE NGC MS70 MINT STATE COLLECTION.
Currently there are 144 coins in the Gold Eagle, Mint State set.
This collection has been the most complete NGC Mint State American Gold Eagle Set since the start of the NGC
Registry. As of 7/14/2010 Dan`s completed the regular issue MS70 Gold Eagle collection (combined NGC & 1 PCGS) which is believed to be the first and only one in the world. As of 4/2/2012 Dan`s also completed the first known full set of American Gold Eagle MS70 coins, including the 1999 W error coins (combined NGC & 1 PCGS) (as of that date there were only 3 sets possible). Finally, on July 10, 2014, after 15 years in the making, Dan`s finished assembling the first and only known complete exclusively NGC MS70 Gold Eagle collection.. Given current populations and lack of availability of the earlier coins it would be very difficult for a collector starting a set today to recreate a complete NGC MS70 Gold Eagle set.
Through 2015 Dan`s has been the recipient of 220 NGC Best in Category and Best in NGC Category awards in the MInt State, 1/10 Ounce, 1/4 Ounce, 1/2 Ounce, 1 Ounce and Yearly Set categories. This makes the collection the most decorated American Eagle Set and one of the most honored on the entire NGC Registry.
The uncirculated American Gold Eagle was intended to be a mass produced bullion coin. The mint did not initially take extra measures to insure that Mint State Eagles (especially pre-2000 coins) were given special handling in the production process. Around 2000 the emphasis seemed to change toward producing higher quality BU Eagles and the MS70-Perfect population figures reflect this fact. Top quality Gold Eagles are submitted for grading in the hopes of finding that "perfect" coin. From the "cream of the crop" sent to NGC only about 1-in-8 $5, 1-in-27 $10, 1-in-52 $25 and 1-in-19 $50 pre-2000 Gold Eagles are given the MS70 distinction (those graded as of 5/25/2014). As of that date approximately 1-in-2100 Gold Eagles ever minted prior to 2000 currently has the honor of "perfection" bestowed by NGC. (Or just 1-per-1,200, 1-per-2,300, 1-per-1,600 and 1-per-6,900 for the $5, $10, $25 and $50 respectively).
It is particularly challenging to find most of the earlier coins in perfect condition. (The most difficult of any American Eagle collection to assemble due to the very limited 70 grade pre-2000 coins and in the case of Platinum Eagles some MS70 coins do not currently exist). Several of the coins in the group seem to be practically non existent and have not publicly sold in years. In fact, going into 2014 Heritage Auctions had no sales history on 19 of the pre 2000 NGC MS70 coins whereas they had sold 3 each of the extremely difficult Brasher Doubloons and 1804 Silver Dollars. Several of the 2000-2002 MS70`s are also becoming more difficult to locate.
The collection of course contains all 14 hard to assemble complete pre-2000 yearly NGC MS70 sets. Set years 1989, 1990 1991 and 1995 were the first sets assembled. There are other years which were probably the first completed (1992, 1993 and 1997).
While it is difficult to gather information about when the coins were actually graded the set is known to contain several that were the first ever to be given the MS70 distinction (by either NGC or PCGS) and many more that were among the first (and probably/possibly were). Included in the first ever certified MS70 group are the key 1991 $10 and $25 and the 1995 $10 coins. Many of the pre 2000 coins are of such distinguishing quality that they were amongst the standard setters for the MS70 grade (of the 58 pre-2000 coins 40 of them have NGC invoice numbers ranging from 10,630 to 344,187 - with current NCC invoice numbers in the millions these were indeed early grades). Based upon the earliest available NGC/PCGS population reports there are at least 22 known to be in the first 5 ever given this grade by NGC and 18 which were in the first 5 ever graded MS70 by both NGC and PCGS.
Until 12/2009 this was the first and only $5 NGC MS70 Gold Eagle complete set on the NGC Registry. As of now there are 4 complete NGC $5 registry sets (with a population of 49 NGC MS70 1988 coin as of 2/01/2016 there are just 49 sets possible). As of this date there is one known complete PCGS MS70 $5 set.
As of 2/01/2016 it it is one of only 2 known complete NGC MS70 $10 sets in the world.(1986 through 2016)(with a population of just 18 1990 NGC coins as of this date there are just 18 sets possible). There are currently no known complete PCGS $10 MS70 sets.
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The collection also contains the first and only known complete $25 MS70 and complete NGC $25 sets in the world (1986-2016) (with a population of just 26 1998 $25 NGC coins as of 2/01/2016 there are 25 sets possible). There are currently no.known complete PCGS $25 MS70 sets.
The $50 NGC MS70 set is the only one known to exist. (with a population of just 9 1994 NGC coins as of 2/01/2016 there are 9 sets possible). There are currently no known complete PCGS $50 MS70 sets.
Earlier Gold Eagles are highly collectible. In fact, 2014 auction sales are quite supportive of the underlying health of the pre-2000 coins with the Heritage sale of an NGC 1987 $25 MS70 Gold Eagle for $32,900 in June, 2014, an eBay sale of the NGC 1998 $25 MS70 Gold Eagle for $32,100 in October, 2014.and a Great Collections sale of the NGC MS70 1999 $50 Gold Eagle for $29,700 also in October.
The mint only "officially" started to produce collection Gold Eagles in 2006 with the W series Also in 2006 NGC began using the First Strikes designation to distinguish those Gold Eagles that were graded early in the grading process. Later that year beginning with the 2006 W coins the terminology was changed to Early Releases. These early minted coins are coveted and tend to sell at a premium over their later minted counterparts. This set contains the complete collection of NGC First Strikes and Early Releases MS70`s from 2006 to date, including the 2015 1/10 ounce "narrow reeds" coin.
The American Gold Eagle is considered by many to be the most popular and beautiful gold coin in the world.
