The design of the American Buffalo gold bullion coin is a modified version of James Earle Fraser’s design for the Indian Head nickel (Type 1), issued in early 1913. After a raised mound of dirt below the animal on the reverse was reduced, the Type 2 variation continued to be minted for the rest of 1913 and every year until 1938, except for 1922, 1932, and 1933 when no nickels were struck. Generally, Fraser’s Indian Head nickel design is regarded as among the best designs of any U. The same design also was used on the 2001 Smithsonian commemorative coin. The obverse (front) of the coin depicts a Native American, whom Fraser said he created as a mixture of the features of three chiefs from different American Indian tribes, Big Tree, Iron Tail, and Two Moons, who posed as models for him to sketch. Atop a mound of dirt on the reverse (back) of the coin stands an American Bison, which commonly are referred to as buffalo. The animal depicted on the reverse is believed by most to be the bison named Black Diamond, who lived in the New York City Central Park Zoo during the 1910s. It is said that Fraser had to have someone distract the buffalo while he snuck to a position beside it to draw. Otherwise, the buffalo would turn to face him and Fraser couldn’t get the profile he wanted. Also, the motto, IN GOD WE TRUST, appearing on all U. Gold coins since 1908, can be seen on the reverse of the newer coin to the left of, and beneath, the buffalo’s head. Bullion coins, including the American Buffalo gold piece, are being struck at the West Point Mint in New York. According to the U. Mint website, only the proof version of the buffalo gold coin bears the mint mark “W” on the obverse (front) of the coin, behind the neck of the Indian; the bullion version does not have the “W” mint mark. After a long wait by both collectors and investors, the uncirculated version of the American Buffalo gold piece was made available to coin dealers on June 20, 2006. The 2006 proof quality coin has a strict mintage limit of 300,000, with an additional enforced limit of only ten (10) coins per household. The catalog number of the 2006 proof coin at the U. The coin was created in order to compete with foreign 24-karat gold bullion coins. Since investors some times prefer 99.99% pure gold over the 91.67% gold used in the American Gold Eagle, many were choosing non-U. Coins, such as the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf, to meet their bullion needs. With the American Buffalo coin, the U. Government hopes to increase the amount of U. Gold sales and cash in on the 24-karat sales, which makes up about 60% of the world gold market. On July 22, the mint transferred two of the American Buffalo coins to the Smithsonian Institution’s coin collection because of their historic value. On September 26, 2008 the U. Mint announced that temporarily, it is halting sales of the American Buffalo coins because it can’t keep up with soaring demand as investors seek the safety of gold amid the current economic turbulence, which also has affected the price of gold. Multiple are available so certification numbers of coins may vary from image above. The item “2008-W American Gold Buffalo 8-Piece Set MS70 & PF70 NGC Early Release” is in sale since Monday, October 19, 2015. This item is in the category “Coins & Paper Money\Bullion\Gold\Coins”. The seller is “syddog1119″ and is located in United States. This item can be shipped to United States.
- Coin: American Buffalo
- Precious Metal Content: Mixed Lot
- Certification: NGC
- Grade: MS70 & PF70
- Certification Number: Various
- Year: 2008-W
- Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
