$50 · Gold · Bullion / collector
American Buffalo Gold Coin
The first regular U.S. Mint one-ounce .9999 fine gold coin, adapting Fraser's Buffalo nickel designs to a large bullion format.
- Designer
- James Earle Fraser
- Classic dates
- 2006–present
- Mint facilities
- West Point
01 · Overview
Why the American Buffalo Gold Coin matters
Introduced in 2006, the American Buffalo became the United States Mint's first one-ounce .9999 fine gold bullion coin and first 24-karat gold proof program. James Earle Fraser's 1913 Buffalo nickel designs were adapted to gold.
Bullion and proof issues share core specifications but differ in manufacture, distribution, mintmark practice, packaging, and certification populations. Special finishes and 2008 fractional denominations require separate records.
02 · Design
Reading the design
Fraser portrait
The cheek, hair, feather, and expansive field reveal contact, frost breaks, and handling.
American bison reverse
The bison, ground line, denomination, fineness statement, and mintmark where applicable establish the issue.
03 · Specifications
Nominal issue specifications
- Denomination
- $50
- Composition
- 99.99% gold
- Nominal weight
- 1.0001 troy oz
- Diameter
- 32.7 mm
- Edge
- Reeded
- Series dates
- 2006–present
Nominal specifications describe regular classic issues. Patterns, proofs, special strikes, production tolerances, and later commemorative or modern versions may differ.
04 · Grading population
How many have been certified at each grade
No static census copied here. Full grade-by-grade counts change and are not republished without the exact issue, service, strike, designation, source, and as-of date. Use the official tools below; verified figures for an individual Nucoins coin appear on that coin's listing.
Population reports count submissions certified by a grading service. They do not count every surviving coin, and a series-wide total is not a substitute for the exact date, mint, variety, strike, designation, and grade. Nucoins listings show the population in the listed grade and the number graded higher when those figures have been checked against an official report.
- Population in grade
- Coins recorded by that service for the exact issue and assigned grade.
- Higher / finer
- Coins recorded by the same service in numerically higher applicable grades.
- Report date
- The date the figure was checked; counts can change after submissions, resubmissions, and database updates.
05 · Issue map
The series in stages
01 · 2006–present
One-ounce bullion and proof
The core program pairs investor bullion with a West Point proof collector version.
02 · 2008
Fractional anniversary issues
One-half, one-quarter, and one-tenth ounce versions form a limited one-year expansion.
03 · Selected years
Special finishes
Reverse proof and other special products require exact finish and packaging attribution.
Notable issue checkpoints
Production figures describe coins struck, not coins surviving or certified. Linked issue records provide the context for each figure.
06 · Examination
What photographs should help you examine
Obverse
Field, cheek, and feather
Assess contact or frost disturbance according to bullion, proof, or special-finish manufacture.
Reverse
Bison and ground
Inspect shoulder, hip, horn, ground line, lettering, and mintmark where applicable.
Edge / holder
Weight and finish
Match denomination, fine-gold weight, finish, year, and holder description.
07 · Before buying
Questions the listing should answer
01
Separate metal value from numismatic value
The coin contains a known nominal amount of gold, but its market value can also reflect date, mint, variety, survival, grade, surface quality, and demand. A gold calculation is a useful reference point, not a complete valuation method.
02
Read the holder and the coin
Confirm the grading service, grade, certification number, and any documented designation, then examine the photographs independently. A third-party grade is an attributed opinion; it does not replace a review of color, luster, marks, and surface originality.
03
Treat cleaning and damage separately from wear
Circulation wear is only one part of condition. Cleaning, polishing, scratches, rim damage, mount removal, tooling, and altered surfaces can materially change how a coin is described and valued even when substantial design detail remains.
08 · Sources
Primary references
This guide is educational and intentionally type-level. Issue-specific attribution, mintage, certification, and condition should be verified for the individual coin.