It is hard to believe that when the American Eagle Bullion Program started back in 1986 that it would become what it has become. The popularity has reached beyond the nation’s borders and has claimed notoriety amongst other world bullion offerings, including but not limited to silver and gold from Australia, China, Canada, and Mexico. The American Gold Eagle itself was introduced to the American public as a product worth investing in with its design depicting patriotism and nationalism bringing about the authorization and passing of its creation. With a gold bullion program over 37 years old at this point, it is safe to assume that there would be a few standouts.
This is especially true of this next entry in our blog series following along with Whitman Publishing’s fourth edition of the 100 Greatest United States Modern Coins series. Authors Jeff Garrett and Scott Schechter will guide us through this top 50 pick that looks closely at a less popular denomination of the series and how the state of the economy would fact into its inevitable interest from investors and collectors alike.
#48 – 1991 $25 American Gold Eagle
Since its inception in 1986, the American Gold Eagle program issued four sizes/denominations: one ounce ($50), half ounce ($25), quarter ounce ($10), and tenth ounce ($5). The most popular of the denominations were the $50 and $5 coins with the two in the middle never reaching remarkable sales figures. Other than interested collectors, the coins were purchased by smaller investors, or those who did not have unlimited buying power but were still interested in owning gold. However, this group would have been hit the hardest during the recession that began in the late 1980s and lasted through the early 1990s.
Inflation and deficit were a major concern during this time as the first Persian Gulf War would cause oil prices to rise. While these concerns should have pushed gold investors into a buying spurt, it would only highlight the fact that gold had fallen 30% an ounce during the late 1980s, wearing thin on investors who were all in at the program’s start. This continued into the early 1990s as signals would suggest gold investment popularity, but reality would indeed creep in through rose-colored glasses.
Authors Garrett and Schechter point to collectors trying to complete their sets as far as the interest that accounted for the sales of the 1991 $25 American Gold Eagle. However, only 24,100 were struck, making it the lowest minted for the half ounce then and still today. This year would also make for the last year the United States Mint would include a date in Roman numerals as they did so between 1986 and 1991. The format would change in 1992 as bullion dealers would deem the number form “difficult to work with.”
This entry has moved down three spots since its first ranking (#45) in the first edition of the publication.