One of the most beautiful US gold coins on the market right now is the ultra-high relief Double Gold Eagle by St. Gaudens. This particular coin design has often been revered as one of the most beautiful on the market, and St. Gaudens’ graceful sculpture is as lovely today as it ever was. Here’s a bit of interesting history behind this gorgeous piece of American history and some information on where you might be able to find it.
When St. Gaudens first created the Liberty Walking design for the Gold Eagle coin, he intended for the design to be pressed into high relief in the coins. Basically, when a coin is minted, two carved mallets are smashed into a round piece of metal. To make a high relief coin, you have to have a thicker piece of metal and a specially designed relief mold. Plus, you’ll probably stamp the coin more than once to ensure that it takes up as much details as possible from the mold.
Gold American Eagle coins are a series of collectable coins minted by U.S. Mint and issued by the federal government. The composition of the coin is 91.67% pure gold, with minor silver and copper content. This coin was originally released in the 1986 and has continued to this day. Augustus Saint-Gaudens designed the front image of the coin; the coin depicts an image of Lady Liberty holding an olive branch and a torch—two very patriotic symbols, and important to American culture.
On the reverse side of the coin, we see an eagle soaring above its nest, bringing an olive branch to its mate and hatchlings. The reverse image was designed by Miley Busiek. Besides the images, what makes this coin unique? It is a gold coin officially authorized by the U.S. government. It is guaranteed to have the exact amount of gold content. It comes in multiple sizes including one tenth of an ounce, one fourth of an ounce, one-half of an ounce and one ounce.
There are few places where one can find an honest assessment of the risk of any investment. Most often, slick marketing talk usually drowns out sensible information and, for investors, this is not at all helpful. Given the collapse of the housing bubble, investors are likely better critical thinkers than ever before. Gold investment oftentimes appeals to those who think before they buy. The reasons this metal is valuable provides and interesting way to compare it to other types of investment. For the length of time gold investment has endured, however, there is nothing that compares.
When individuals decide to put their money into gold—or other precious metals, for that matter—the investor is betting that the demand for the metal, and thus the value, will increase. One need not make this assessment based on their “gut”. Gold is in high demand. It is used in technology extensively and has unique properties that make it particularly suitable for precision applications in very harsh conditions. If any alien civilizations ever run into the Voyager probe, they will find the greeting from humanity inscribed on a gold plaque. Barring getting melted down in a sun or sucked into a black hole, that gold will shine as brilliantly for those alien civilizations as it did on the day it was launched.
For many types of activities today, when you try to have a go, you’ll find yourself being asked for a license or permit. This is true even for things you might take for granted as a right, such as trading on the stock exchange or importing certain precious pieces of art or sculpture. Fortunately, gold investing doesn’t require certification.
Instead of certification, gold investing simply requires the desire to have tangible assets in your portfolio. Once you have made the conscious decision to abandon the stock holdings that have let you down repeatedly over the years and embrace gold, the next steps are easy and straightforward.
There are many options to choose from when you are starting a gold coin collection, but American Eagle gold coins are the ideal choice for the smart bullion collector who is not only looking for a gorgeous keepsake but also a savvy investment. Each of the American Eagle gold coins is available in a one ounce denomination as well as a half ounce, quarter ounce and a tenth ounce.
It is even possible to purchase an American Eagle gold bullion proof set that contains all four examples of the coins in the various weights. The different weights of the coins represent different face values. The one ounce coin has a face value of fifty dollars, while the half ounce coin has a twenty-five dollar face value. The subsequent coins also have different face values. The quarter ounce coin, for example, has a face value of ten dollars and the one-tenth ounce coin has a five dollar face value.