Next up, let’s discuss the United States’ own gold coin: the Eagle.

            In 1986, the American Eagle was first minted as a direct response to the immense popularity of the South African Krugerrand, which had just experienced a ban by congress in international sales.  The Eagle sported Lady Liberty as its trademark design.  This was the same Augustus Saint-Gaudens design that had first appeared on the United States double-eagle gold piece in 1907, where it remained until 1933.  Now, with the launch of this new coin, the Eagle flew to become the leading gold bullion coin investment product in the US, and never looked back, not even when the ban on Krugerrands was lifted in 1994.

            As the most widely traded bullion coins in America, Eagles are a strong investment, affording buyers narrow spreads between buy and sell prices.  They cannot be purchased directly from the mint but only from authorized dealers who will sell it at a markup above the spot price.  As mentioned in our “Premiums” article, the Eagle has the single highest premium of all gold coins, but this also means it has the highest buy-back price.  This leads to a larger investment, but also a higher return when you sell it.

            Just like the Krugerrand, the Eagle is twenty-two karat pure gold, with the remaining two karats being a silver-copper alloy.  The Eagle is also actual American currency.  It has a face value of $50.00, but due to the value of the gold content, this numeric value is really only symbolic.  As my customers and I operate within the U.S., our relationship to the Eagle is slightly different than what it is with international coins.  First off, it means that it is illegal to deface within US territory and I cannot melt it down as I frequently do for Krugerrands.  It is also the only bullion coins whose weight, content, and purity are directly guaranteed by my government.  This gives my customers more confidence around the Eagle than with foreign coins, and long-time investors know that they can include Eagles in their Individual Retirement Account.  However, from a financial standpoint, it doesn’t make much sense to buy gold through your IRA account unless you plan on trading, rather than holding, the asset.  The amount of cash you can invest each year into your IRA is spelled out in the Congressionally-mandated contribution limits.  Gold doesn’t have utility in the sense that is going to product taxable cash, whereas if you own corporate bonds, dividend paying stocks, or real estate investment trusts, you are going to receive distributions each year in the form of interest or dividends.  As an investor, you may be better off buying American Eagle gold coins and place them in a safety deposit box at their local bank.

            The U.S. Mint also produces proof versions of American Eagles for collectors.  Those coins undergo a specialized minting process, where burnished coin blanks are fed into presses fitted with special dies. After scrutiny by inspectors, each American Eagle Gold Proof Coin is sealed in a protective plastic capsule and mounted in a satin-lined velvet presentation case with its own official Certificate of Authenticity.   In 2006, the United States Mint unveiled a new item.  Now collectors may purchase American Eagle Uncirculated Coins in silver and gold directly from the U.S. Mint.  In a process identical to that used to create the magnificent American Eagle Proof Coins, American Eagle Uncirculated Coins are hand-loaded into the coining press, struck on specially burnished blanks and carry the “W” mint mark of the United States Mint at West Point.

            American Eagles are beloved coins for the patriotic consumer; one may feel that he is not only getting gold, but national gold valued by his own government.  And to the investor interested in gold, the Eagle is another coin with a rich history with the ability to yield lucrative profits!

            Another gold bullion coin, the Chinese Panda, was unveiled in 1982.  At .999 fine gold, the Pandas are issued as legal tender in the People’s Republic of China, and exist in 1-ounce, ½-ounce, ¼-ounce, 1/10-ounce, and 1/20-ounce denominations.

            The obverse of the coin depiction of the Temple of Heaven, a Taoist complex in southeastern Beijing with a rich history spanning many emperors.  Chinese characters grace the top saying “Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo” meaning People’s Republic of China and the bottom the year of issue. The reverse features different portraits of the panda, an animal indigenous to China.  Talk about a coin that’s exotic on both sides!  Like Australian Kangaroos, the design of the panda has changed ever year with one exception.  In 2001, the Chinese Mint announced they would be discontinuing this tradition and froze the current design.  The outcry from collectors was so negative that the changing design was reinstated, beginning in 2003.  After all, each design is meticulously crafted and is thus popular for its artistic merit as well as financial value. 

            Demand for Chinese Pandas have gone up a great deal in value in the recent years, due to having more gold content than American Eagles and being better quality than Canadian Maple Leafs.  Investors across the globe are taking more of an interest in the coin and confident it produces good returns.  It also helps that China has a reputation as a growing and developing economy that is pulling the world out of global recession.  At an insecure time when gold seems like a stable investment, Chinese gold sounds even better and all the more stable.

            By changing the design every year, the Chinese were able to build a steady demand for these products regardless of gold price fluctuations. Gold Pandas also encouraged jewelry use, as the 1-ounce coins were set in necklace mountings, and the smaller sizes were sold in pendants, bracelets, and earrings. Panda coin jewelry became quite an item in the U.S., and the rest of the world.  Pandas are issued by China at a higher percentage over the actual gold price than standard bullion coins, and pioneered the idea of a modern collectible/bullion coin. By 1987 collector interest was so high that specimens of the one ounce 1982 Panda traded for over $3,000.

            For the collector, Special Proof Sets were issued of the gold Pandas, presented in lacquered boxes with silk linings, and marketed for more than twice the gold value. Enormous 5-ounce and 12-ounce gold Panda “hockey pucks” were issued in limited numbers, and at huge premiums.  Also, additional commemorative issues of Panda gold coins seemed to appear at the drop of a hat. At coin conventions in the late 1980’s, where these limited edition special issue Pandas were distributed, buyers lined up outside around the block just to get the chance to purchase them.

            Finally, it should be mentioned that throughout history, pandas have been a symbol of peace and humbleness due to their usually docile behavior.  This was also the image that the Chinese government wanted to project to other nations, a diplomatic strategy called “Panda Diplomacy.”  Hence, the Panda Gold Coin is an extension of that projection of peace and goodwill, and this gives the coin a certain feeling of majestic benevolence, much like the noble creatures themselves.

Absolutely no gold coin in the world boasts a higher purity than the gold Maple Leaf: 99.99%!  Conceived as a direct response to the boom of the South African Krugerrand, the Royal Canadian Mint unveiled the Maple Leaf in 1979, the first coin in history to be minted at the ultimate purity and pioneering the concept of minting a gold coin without the need for a strengthening alloy!  Hence it is exactly twenty-four karat gold; although some Canadian gold maple leaf coins have been issued in special editions with 99.999% gold purity, also known as “five nines” by collectors.  This results in Canadian gold maple leaf coins being considerably softer and more susceptible to show wear and tear.  This obviously is a major concern for the collector interested in physically displaying his wealth, but is a little or meaningless concern for those who hold these coins for their bullion value with the intent of profiting off a rise in the spot price of gold.

The Royal Canadian Mint’s insistence upon flawless planchets, the pure gold blanks from which gold coins are struck, has led to an enviable reputation among demanding investors and collectors.  In fact, the one troy ounce gold Canadian Maple Leaf has been in continuous production longer than any other pure gold bullion coin.  The classic design of the gold Maple Leaf coin has never been altered. The bust of Queen Elizabeth II appears on the obverse side of the coin, gracefully aging across various vintage coins in a design by Arnold Machin while the reverse depicts a single Maple Leaf along with the name of the country and the level of purity of the gold, listed in both English and French.  The coin is available in 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/10, and 1/20 troy ounce denominations. 

Traditionally, in addition to being Canadian legal tender, the Maple Leaf enjoys highly liquid markets.  The premium usually falls within 2-5% percent, which is standard for coin bullion of this type.  As the coins are easy to find and easy to store, they add some interesting variety to your investment efforts.

In 2007, the Royal Canadian Mint surprised the numismatic world by creating and issuing two very interesting variants of the classic pure gold Maple Leaf: a one hundred kilogram, or two-hundred and twenty pound, “five-nines” Maple Leaf with a face value of $1 million Canadian dollars, while the gold content was worth over two million U.S. dollars at the time.

A Maple Leaf is a one-of-a-kind gold coin and, as the only one to be twenty-four karats, it might as well be a Pamp bar or piece of jewelry, but one that is issued as legal tender and with a royal approval. 

            Now let’s discuss Australia’s contribution to the world of gold coins.

            In 1987, the Australian Perth Mint introduced its own 1-ounce gold bullion coin, referred to as Gold Nuggets, due to the reverse side bearing an image of the largest gold nugget ever found, the 2,284-oz Welcome Stranger nugget, which was found in Western Australia in 1869.  For some odd reason, investors did not seem attracted to the nugget image, and the coin took a while to take off.  In 1990 the Welcome Stranger image was replaced with a kangaroo image, which the Perth Mint changes every year, and leading to a much stronger turnout of investors.  Perhaps the indigenous nature of the animal seemed more exotic to non-Australians.  Still, the word “Nugget” was stamped on the obverse of the coins, along with an image of Queen Elizabeth II, as is common in all commonwealth coinage, and so the coins were referred to as “Kangaroo-Nuggets.”  This was finally discontinued in 2008, and now the coins are mostly known as Australian Kangaroo Gold Coins.

With the kangaroo images changing every year, the coins have a uniqueness not found on any other bullion coins aside from Chinese Pandas.  This makes Kangaroos all the more exciting to a collector, who will be inclined to add a new coin to his collection every year and own every possible image.  Kangaroos are also twenty-four karat with .9999 purity, but they come individually capsulated in protective plastic covers as opposed to Maple Leafs which are notorious for scratching easily.  However, Kangaroos do require greater storage space.  In addition to standard denominations of other coins for 1-ounce, ½-ounce, ¼-ounce, 1/10-ounce, and 1/20-ounce, Australia is the first market to introduce 2-ounce, 10-ounce, 1-kg sized coins. These larger sizes have been imported into the U.S.from time to time since their initial production.  And those whole love big coins will be interested to know that just in the last week, Australia unveiled the world’s largest coin at a diameter of 80 cm, a thickness of 13 cm, and took 18 months to make.  The 1,000 kg coin is 99.99% pure gold, and would be worth up to $57.34 million  if it was melted down and separated into gold bars.

For collectors, the Australian Koala Gold Proof Coin is one of the popular coins around the world.  It also is .9999 pure and has a design that changes annually.  Each coin comes in special presentation case with certificate of authenticity and custom design shipper.

If you’re new to investing, the Australian Kangaroos is considered a good place to start and is certainly among one of the best gold coins to invest in due to its popularity and value.  The mintage of the Australian Kangaroos  is actually quite low yearly, compared to other bullion gold coins, and the changing designs makes each year’s “new crop” seem all the more rare.  The more valuable the investment, the higher likelihood of the return.  More and more investors are being allured by the exotic nature of that indigenous kangaroo.